e-Books as an Equity Strategy

As Chicago Public Schools prioritized equity at the core of its educational work, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for the Department of Libraries to immediately amplify our connections to equity work in the following areas: collection development policies, access and content.

From designing and implementing an updated collection development policy that is rooted in equity, identifying internal and external partnerships to amplify the work, strategic curricular collection development strategies, and engaging in professional development strategies of ebook use with different district stakeholders including vendors, principals, coaches, and teachers. Finally, we will share our learning tips and tricks, what to do and what not to do when developing systemic competencies around a resource that has historically been rejected by the librarian world.

By the time we close our session, librarians, school or district administrators, university and public librarian leaders, and partnering vendors will be inspired and prepared to build a successful and robust ebook collection that can be accessed by all learners at all times, leading the way in equitable digital resources. Participants will know first steps to collection development policies with equity at the core of the policy. They will learn how to allocate budgets for this initiative, promote the work to onboard districtwide, train students and staff in best practices, and strategize vendor IT accountability. Budget allocation, ways to apply funds to different licensing options, and tried and true best practices in ebooks as an equity strategy will be thoroughly explored.