| “We are ecstatic to award the Cranston Public Library with the prize. The library's close working relationships with civic government, community organizations, and residents have made it integral to the city's social fabric. They clearly represent what this prize seeks to recognize,” said Gerald (Jerry) Kline. To serve a rapidly transforming community, with booming immigration and increasing economic disparity, Cranston Public Library helped convene a broad-based coalition of public, private, faith-based, and nonprofit organizations and community members to push for equity and social cohesion. The resulting group, OneCranston, addresses opportunity gaps, access to employment and post-secondary education, and systemic barriers. And that’s just the beginning of the library’s deep and reciprocal civic engagement. Adult education and workforce assistance, health and opioid response, citizenship prep, and more are an integral part of the library’s strategic plan. The Library brought racial equity training, not only for its own staff, but for all city leadership, and has initiatives in progress to diversify its workforce and governing board. The library supported the community through the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, pivoting to offer more than 200 virtual programs between March and June even as the buildings were closed for staff and patron safety, as well as offering tech help for students in distance learning and 3-D printing face shields for COVID testing center and senior facilities. In June, the library reopened with capacity restrictions, using safety plans developed by employees and administration together. "We are honored to be selected for the Jerry Kline Community Impact Prize,” said Library Director Ed Garcia. “I am so proud of the hard work and dedication of our amazing team at the Cranston Public Library and everything we have done to reach out to our community. I am especially proud of how our team came together to safely reopen our libraries and serve our community over the past four months." “Public libraries across the country have been impressive in their rapid and innovative response to this challenging moment,” said Meredith Schwartz, editor-in-chief of Library Journal. “But even among such a strong showing, Cranston Public Library is an inspiration: its deep work on equity and relationship of trust with organizations and individuals alike positions the library to meaningfully engage the community’s deepest needs and concerns and make a difference.” This year for the first time honorable mentions were also named: Central Arkansas Library System, Little Rock; Gwinnett County Public Library, Lawrenceville, GA; and Union County Library System, Union, SC. All three receive brief profiles accompanying the winner’s in the November issue of Library Journal. The following judges helped determine the winner: Deborah Jacobs, former director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Libraries initiative, former Seattle City Librarian, and LJ 1994 Librarian of the Year; Marc A. Ott, executive director of the International City/County Management Association Rivkah Sass, director of Sacramento Public Library, the inaugural Jerry Kline Community Impact Prize winner, 2002 Library Journal Mover & Shaker and 2006 Library Journal Librarian of the Year. For more information about the Jerry Kline Community Impact Prize, visit www.libraryjournal.com/communityimpact. To read more about this year's winner, please click here. | 