The consortium of metropolitan libraries (cobimet) with its 16 member institutions, the puerto rico department of education (prde), and libraries without borders (LWB), will develop and deliver online…

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded $247,300 to Cobimet, Inc. (Consortium of Metropolitan Libraries) on October 1, 2025, under the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (CFDA 45.313) to develop and deliver online synchronous professional development workshops for librarians on applying neuro-learning principles to information literacy instruction. Through September 30, 2028, Cobimet will collaborate with the Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDE) and Libraries Without Borders (LWB) to design, test, and refine comprehensive workshops and an educational toolkit that equips librarians with evidence-based teaching techniques focused on enhancing attention, memory, multisensory engagement, emotional connection, and neuroplasticity. The project will create adaptable, generalizable materials that enable librarians to personalize learning experiences based on their communities' cognitive capabilities.

The deliverables will be disseminated nationally through a dedicated project website, peer-reviewed publications, and conference presentations to ensure broad impact across the library field. This project directly supports the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program's core objectives of developing and retaining library professionals while building institutional capacity through training, professional development, and the creation of sustainable, field-wide educational resources for the library and archives workforce.

The consortium of metropolitan libraries (cobimet) with its 16 member institutions, the puerto rico department of education (prde), and libraries without borders (LWB), will develop and deliver online synchronous workshops for librarians on the application of neuro-learning in teaching information literacy. Neurolearning refers to the study of how the brain learns, integrating insights into neuroscience to improve teaching and learning processes. As information literacy educators, librarians can apply these concepts to enhance users' abilities to seek, assess, and utilize information efficiently. This project will design, test, and refine workshops and an educational toolkit to empower librarians with the necessary skills to improve how they teach information literacy, personalizing learning experiences based on the learning capabilities of their communities. The materials will also be adaptable, generalizable, and usable by other institutions through a project website and disseminated to the field through conferences and publications. By focusing on techniques that enhance attention, memory, multisensory engagement, emotional connection, and neuroplasticity, librarians can significantly improve students' mastery of information literacy.