Prince George's County Memorial Library

During fy 23, the program services dept continued to build and strengthen in person and online programming capacity across the Library system as we began to return to pre-covid operations.in summer 2022, the first social justice camp series for teens was held across five Library branches. Supported by a valued partnership with the Prince George's County office of human rights, the social justice camp exemplifies collaborative efforts aimed at empowering youth to drive social change. Central to the camp's mission is guiding teens through a process of self-assessment to uncover their passions, skills, and concerns about the future. By helping them recognize their unique strengths and interests, the program empowers teens to harness their potential for activism effectively. Through cooperative work and mentorship, participants discover their individual skills and learn how to leverage the skills and passions of their network, fostering a sense of collective agency and collaboration.the rock banned book club, in collaboration with the Prince George's County office of human rights kicked off in june 2023. Each month, one of the top challenged books of 2022 would be discussed. The initiative supported the anti-banning movement and the idea that all people have the right to read the books that they want to. During fy 23, the books from birth program continued to grow. This program, in collaboration with dolly parton imagination Library, provides a free book for registered Prince George's County children until they turn five. We began working with the County labor and delivery hospitals to ensure children are registered at birth and can enjoy a full five years of monthly books in the mail for them to keep.the program services dept. Supports the Library's mission of equity and inclusion by leading heritage planning teams and arranging for presenters who have particular cultural, historical, artistic, and academic expertise to best represent diverseperspectives and provide rich context and content. These initiatives include hispanic heritage, black culture, asian pacific american heritage, native and indigenous culture, lgbtq+, and the variety of intersectionality therein. During fy 23, the teams joined forces to plan a heritage programming toolkit and staff training to ensure that staff have the resources to provide equitable and culturally sensitive programming to our community.the program services dept. Vetted and hired presenters and performers, as well as facilitated materials and supplies acquisition for branches to use at their discretion. The department helped to streamline the presenter selection process and coordinated several hundred collaborative programs yearly across the Library system.