Civic Engagement and Collective Impact for Social Change

This paper provides “leaps of faith” in reporting work-in-progress of ongoing research from a grant project connecting assessment and evaluation of existing civic engagement efforts to further racial justice, strategic planning and goal setting, and future operationalization of collective impact in public libraries of the American South. The project develops and describes the capacity of public librarians and communities to lead civic engagement and promote positive social change by advancing racial justice in their environments for diverse community facets (e.g., economy, education, etc.) and within their work settings.