Diversity by design: Structure library spaces, programs, and services to welcome and welcome back diverse learners. Diversity includes who someone is. Diversity also includes how each person learns, grows, and navigates their inner and outer worlds. Neurotypes are as unique as fingerprints. Every learner brings their whole self to the library, so long as this library gives learners safe spaces to express their authentic selves.
 

Revamp and revitalize: Libraries aren’t monuments of stone – cold, unmovable, tributes to the past. As time moves forward and the world changes, the library must change with it. Even snow changes its shape, forming and reforming its whole way through the clouds before becoming something beautiful. Libraries, too, must reform and transform to meet the ever-changing needs of our communities - whether that means adapting to new technologies, adopting new paradigm shifts, or accommodating new generations of young learners.
 

Collaboration is Key: Stand with your community, not just for your community. As book challenges skyrocket, libraries must protect not only the freedom to read, but also the freedom to be. Inclusive programs, displays, policies, and services can affirm the human dignity of dehumanized communities. Diversity, equity, and inclusion can only be achieved by working with and within communities. Otherwise, any learning only serves oneself, rather than serving a broader library, campus, school, or community.
 

Inclusivity is a Work in Progress: Libraries are not exempt from bias, stigma, or discrimination. By developing inclusive policies, culturally competent programs, and accessible spaces, libraries can fully open their doors to everyone in their communities, demonstrating that every reader matters. By holding that door wide open, libraries empower community members to be seen, to be heard, to be understood, and to be themselves.
 

Connection is Resilience: Libraries are under more scrutiny and more pressure, making it more difficult to thrive, let alone survive, in librarianship. Building your professional and personal learning networks can build your resilience. You’re not a lone fish in a lowly library pond. You have a whole world worth exploring. Open your heart to it, and you’ll find every reason to keep going.