Community Co-Design: How to Collaborate with Your Community

Revolutionize your approach to user-centered services by implementing co-design practices in your library.

 

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Course Overview

Guest speaker sessions via Zoom:
Tuesdays, Feb. 18, 25 and Mar. 4, from 2:00-3:45 pm ET (recordings available)

Workshop:
Asynchronous, facilitator-led workshop over 3 weeks

Co-design, also known as participatory design or co-creation, is a process that brings together designers and end-users to collaboratively develop solutions, products, or services. Co-design is crucial for library programs and outreach because it places the patrons and community at the center of development and decision making, ensuring that their perspectives, experiences, and needs inform the final outcome. In this three-week, interactive online course, you will gain the knowledge and practical skills needed to engage with patrons, stakeholders, and community members to rebalance power dynamics and collaboratively shape your library’s services, programs, and outreach.

Join us and learn how co-design – based in empathy, iteration, and multidisciplinary collaboration – can help you create programs and outreach strategies that have tangible impacts in the communities you’re intending to serve.

The live sessions run on Tuesdays, February 18, 25 and March 4, from 2:00-3:45 pm ET (recordings available) with an ongoing facilitator-led workshop over 3 weeks. Don’t miss this opportunity!

 

When you sign up early, you’ll have immediate access to our Early Access On Demand Resources—a series of webinars from Library Journal and School Library Journal contributors along with rich, supporting materials in the form of readings, activities, and videos—to explore at your own pace.

Learning Objectives 

After you leave this course, you should have the ability to:

  • Understand the foundations of co-design 

  • Understand how co-design can be applied to libraries

  • Acknowledge implicit bias throughout your co-design process

  • Know tactics to gather community interest and input

  • Use data to understand and reach your community

  • Understand methods for enacting co-design

  • Establish appropriate metrics for evaluating success

 

 

PRO TIP: Get our best rates when you register a group of 3 or more!

 

Who should take this course

This course is for program and outreach librarians and other stakeholders involved in creating library programs and services. This course is appropriate for all levels of library staff.

 

Course Features 

This will be a 3-week online course and will include:

  • Live sessions: Guest speaker presentations by leaders in their field. (All sessions are recorded for on-demand access for six months after the course ends.) 

  • Facilitated discussions: Audience participation in Q&A and discussion with guest speakers.

  • Asynchronous workshop: Project-based weekly assignments to connect what you’re learning to your professional life. Includes written feedback from an expert in the field who functions as the workshop facilitator, as well as peer conversation via discussion forums. Workshop available for all multi-week courses plus half-day courses where indicated. 

  • Early access on-demand resources: Access to a series of past live session archives from Library Journal and School Library Journal courses to explore at your own pace. 

  • Online Classroom: The virtual learning platform that holds all course content and is accessible for six months after the course ends. 

 

Expected time commitment

If you watch the recordings of all sessions and participate in the asynchronous workshop, you'll spend approximately 2-4 hours per week on this course. You'll earn 15 hours of PD credit and a Library Journal certificate of completion. 

On-demand access

All guest speaker session recordings are available on demand for six months as a part of your purchase.

Certificate of completion 

Complete the course and earn 15 professional development credit hours. We provide a certificate that is emailed to you. 

Accessibility

All guest speaker sessions feature live captioning and are made available on demand after the initial broadcast. Please email libraryjournal@edmaker.co upon registration if you require any special accommodations and we will make our best efforts to facilitate them.

Support

For support with online courses, please contact libraryjournal@edmaker.co.

 

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Group Rates

Have a team attend and increase your impact!

Discounted registration fees are available for groups of 3 or more. When you register your team for our online courses, they will be placed in the same small workshop group, where discussions and project-based assignments receive feedback from an experienced librarian.

Send us a request for a quote.

If your group prefers to work separately, just let us know.

 

By registering for this event you confirm that you have read and agree to our Code of Conduct.

For support with online courses, please contact libraryjournal@edmaker.co.

 

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Week 1: The What And Why Of Community Co-Design 
Tuesday, February 18, 2024

 

Session 1 | 2:00-3:15 pm ET
Understanding Co-Design Foundations and Implicit Bias

What is co-design, and why might it help you create more inclusive and equitable programs and services? Why is identifying implicit bias - both personally and institutionally - crucial to effective co-design work? This week will discuss how you can embrace co-design as a mindset in order to transform how you approach community-based programs and services. Leave with an understanding of the foundation for the theory and methods of co-design and practical ways co-design can enhance your library work.

 

Session 1 Facilitated Discussion and Q&A | 3:15-3:30 pm ET
This dedicated Q&A session and facilitated discussion will give you the opportunity to ask questions you didn’t get to ask in the session. If there are topics discussed earlier that you still don’t fully understand, this is a chance for speakers to unpack or clarify anything.

 

Workshop Explanation | 3:30-3:45 pm ET
An introduction to this week’s assignment and an overview of what to expect from the online workshop in this course

 

Week 2: The Who Of Community Co-Design
Tuesday, February 25, 2024

 

Session 2 | 2:00-3:15 pm ET
Knowing Your Community and Growing Their Involvement 

What do you need to know about your community to get started with a co-design project? How do you gather community interest, support, and input? This week will discuss practical strategies for researching and connecting with your community. We will also discuss methods for outreach and data collection, survey design and response analysis, as well as how to ensure you gather diverse perspectives that fully represent your community.

 

Session 2 Facilitated Discussion and Q&A | 3:15-3:30 pm ET
This dedicated Q&A session and facilitated discussion will give you the opportunity to ask questions you didn’t get to ask in the session. If there are topics discussed earlier that you still don’t fully understand, this is a chance for speakers to unpack or clarify anything.

 

Workshop Explanation | 3:30-3:45 pm ET
An introduction to this week’s assignment and an overview of what to expect from the online workshop in this course

 

Week 3: The How Of Community Co-Design
Tuesday, March 4, 2024
 

Session 3 | 2:00-3:15
Implementing Co-Design: Tools and Methods pm ET

What are different ways you can enact co-design? And how do you know if your co-design process is successful? This closing week will showcase a model of co-design from beginning to end, focusing on adaptable and tangible tools you can use in the co-design process. We will discuss ways to iterate and refine the project, as well as how to establish effective metrics for evaluating progress.

 

Session 3 Facilitated Discussion and Q&A | 3:15-3:30 pm ET
This dedicated Q&A session and facilitated discussion will give you the opportunity to ask questions you didn’t get to ask in the session. If there are topics discussed earlier that you still don’t fully understand, this is a chance for speakers to unpack or clarify anything.

 

Workshop Explanation | 3:30-3:45 pm ET
An introduction to this week’s assignment and an overview of what to expect from the online workshop in this course

 

REGISTER

 

Online Course Preview

A preview of how we build your library skills and bring inspiration to your projects with our online learning experience.

Course Format

One-Week Timeline (Course Runs 3+ Weeks)

DAYS 1-2

On Demand

DAY 3

2.5 hours

DAYS 4-7

1-2 hours (optional)

 

PRE-LIVE SESSION

- Resources

- Discussions

- Bonus Content

LIVE SESSIONS

- Guest speakers via webcast

- Q&A via chat

- Recordings available on demand

ASYNCHRONOUS WORKSHOP

- Project-based homework, applied to your job

- Personalized feedback from a facilitator

- Group discussion in an asynchronous workshop setting via discussion forum

 

 

Inspiring Live Guest Speakers + Facilitated Group Workshop for Project-Based Learning

 

 

Live session with Andrea Blackman and Tasneem Ansariyah Grace

Live Guest Speakers Each Week

  • Expert speaker presentations with audience Q&A (session recordings available on demand for six months if you can’t join live)
  • Project-based, asynchronous workshop assignments to practice and apply new skills for 3 weeks after the live sessions
  • Expert, individualized feedback on asynchronous work for 3 weeks

 

Online Course Features

 

Recordings of guest speakers

Recordings Available After The Live Session

  • Real-time guest speakers and conversation via live video stream (with recordings available afterward)
  • Instructor-led online course features personalized interaction over 3+ weeks

 

Facilitator-led workshop

Online Classroom Organizes All Materials

  • Workshop assignments to help you make progress on your goals
  • Individualized attention from course facilitators who work with you in a coaching environment in the workshop to help sort out challenges
  • Ongoing group conversation via discussion forums

 

Early Access On Demand Resources

Early Access and Ongoing Resources To Support Learning

  • Supporting resources (articles, videos, worksheets) in the online classroom to provide a foundation for your work
  • Access all course content for six months after the course ends
  • Bonus: Register early and get immediate access to archival video recordings from related courses and other bonus content

 

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