title: It Takes a Village in Practice: Growing Communities During a Pandemic
creators: Megan Forbes Laurie Arp
abstract: What does it take to ensure open-source software (OSS) programs serving cultural and scientific heritage are sustainable and enduring? In 2017, the It Takes a Village (ITAV) project produced a Guidebook that serves as a reference source to help OSS programs plan for long-term sustainability. In 2020, the Institute of Museum and Library Services in the United States funded a new phase of It Takes a Village work, ITAV in Practice, to create and pilot an adaptable set of tools for practical use in planning and managing sustainability for OSS initiatives. It Takes a Village in Practice was proposed pre-COVID, but work did not begin until after pandemic-related restrictions had spread across our participating programs and organizations. This paper shares the challenges, successes, and lessons learned as the project team worked to grow and build the ITAV community and resource during the pandemic.
keywords: open source community engagement sustainability