This initiative's work is being led by action teams comprised of over 60 total leaders from ULC libraries, who are focused on identifying immediate ways that all libraries can overcome key challenges in the COVID-19 era. Use the links below to learn more about the work of these teams.

• ULC publishes a new framework that ULC's Anti-Racism action team guided: Trigger Terms: Harmful Detours and Healing Redirects. This framework offers a lens for surfacing dead ends (“harmful detours”) in conversations about race and racism, as well as promoting mutual understanding and productive dialogue (“healing redirects”).

• ULC hosts library leaders from across North America for on July 14, 2021 for an anti-racism webinar, "Finding our Way Forward Together: Advancing Libraries as Anti-Racist Leaders." ULC Director of Strategic Initiatives Tandra Turner moderated this discussion and an introduction was provided by ULC Anti-Racism action team member and ULC Executive Board Chair Dr. Mary J. Lomaxl-Ghirarduzzi (Vice President, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Professor of Communication, University of the Pacific; President, San Francisco Public Library Commission). The critical conversation featured members of the ULC Anti-Racism action team, including Michelle Hamiel (Chief Operating Officer for Public Services, Prince George’s County Memorial Library System), Karyn Prechtel-Altman (Deputy Director of Public Services and Community Engagement, Pima County Public Library) and Roosevelt Weeks (Director of Libraries, Austin Public Library).
• ULC Senior Advisor Elizabeth McChesney, who leads ULC's Partnering with Schools action team, pens blog post for the Wallace Foundation, How Libraries Can Partner with Communities for Summer Learning Success. The post showcases the unique role public libraries play in the summer learning landscape during the pandemic.

• ULC publishes the Anti-Racist Executive Leadership for Public Libraries Leadership Brief, informed by the work and expert guidance of ULC's Anti-Racism action team.
• ULC's Anti-Racism action team member Donna Zuiderweg pens a ULC blog post, Speak Up/Speak Out: Conversations on Race in Columbus, which highlights how Columbus Metropolitan Library committed to a strong and sustained effort to combat racial inequity in their organization and community, focusing on the Black experience specifically and making race conversations a priority.

• ULC's Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses action team member Hadiza Sa-Aadu pens a ULC blog post, Mapping Out Kansas City's Entrepreneurial System, which highlights how Kansas City Public Library helps entrepreneurs and small businesses get connected to the resources and partners they need.

• ULC's Anti-Racism action team member Robert Simmons pens a ULC blog post, Turning Outward: Our Anti-Racism Journey in Oak Park, which highlights how Oak Park Public Library took a year-long deep dive into examining race and social equity in their organization and community.

• ULC's "Faces on the Front Line" weekly online photo series concluded, celebrating the work of member library staff on the front line of COVID-19. More than 170 stories were shared.

• ULC's Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses action team member Jennifer Gibson pens a ULC blog post, Worth It: Our Small Business Value Calculator, which highlights how St. Louis County Library created a tool that effectively showcases the value of the library's small business services.

• TechSoup for Libraries highlights ULC's new Digital Equity Leadership Brief in their October 2020 Library Tech Newsbytes.
• ULC's Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses action team member Mark Pand pens a ULC blog post, Small Steps, Big Leaps and Local Government Officials, which highlights how Spokane Public Library forges sustainable local government relationships with career workers to build support for the business community.
• Now Toronto links to ULC’s new Digital Equity Leadership Brief and quotes Digital Equity action team member Pam Ryan from Toronto Public Library.

• ULC publishes the Digital Equity in the Age of COVID-19 Leadership Brief, informed by the work and expert guidance of ULC’s Digital Equity action team.
• ULC's Partnering with Schools action team member Beth Yoke pens a ULC blog post, Now is the Time for Risk-Taking & Experimentation, which highlights the unique ways Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library is serving students in a learning environment that is a mix of in-person and remote learning.
• The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition highlights ULC's new Digital Equity Leadership Brief in their September Anchor Bytes Newsletter.

• Web pages launch for the action teams focused on:
  • Anti-Racism
  • Digital Equity
  • Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
  • Partnering with Schools

• The Philadelphia Tribune highlights the initative in a spotlight on "How libraries are moving ... toward reopening."
• Four of the six action teams begin to meet and advance their work, including the teams focused on Digital Equity, Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses, Partnering with Schools and Anti-Racism.
• The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition highlights the Digital Equity action team launch in their Anchor Bytes newsletter.

• ULC finalizes the initial roster of action team participants.
• The Atlantic highlights the initiative in a spotlight on "The Post-pandemic Future of Libraries."

• The ULC Executive Board identifies the need for ULC libraries to join forces at a greater scale than ever before to address the issues of COVID-19.
• The ULC Executive Board issues a statement to all ULC members, announcing the Going Forward from the Pandemic initiative.
• Leaders from ULC's member community join the ULC Executive Board for a Member Summit to kick off the Going Forward from the Pandemic initiative.
• ULC issues an initial call for recommendations for the initiative's action teams.