National Women’s History Month and NGCP

National Women’s History Month is celebrated annually in March. The National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP at https://ngcproject.org) says it celebrates it every month. “This month, and every month, NGCP celebrates the incredible achievements of women throughout history and recognizes the ongoing fight for equality. We aim to shine a light on the pioneers who broke barriers, the everyday heroes making a difference, and the progress still needed to create a more inclusive world.”

NGCP’s focus is girls doing science, just like boys: "Science is not a boy’s game; it’s not a girl’s game. It’s everyone’s game. It’s about where we are and where we’re going." This quote comes from Nichelle Nichols, former NASA Ambassador.

The NGCP is not a cheerleader only. It offers access, evident in every newsletter that I receive. Below is just one example, which is offered for those of you reading this column who may be unaware, or maybe striving but unsure about where to begin with your daughter.

Supporting Early Childhood STEAM Experiences through Play, June 9, 2025, 2:00 PM Eastern. “Get ready to play! Join NGCP for this fun and interactive webinar to learn how to leverage an interdisciplinary STEAM approach to foster young children’s curiosity through authentic play-based learning.”

This is how the NGCP characterizes itself. “We are a network of networks. The National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) brings together organizations committed to informing and encouraging girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). NGCP connects, creates, and collaborates with advocates for transformative change to advance the agenda in gender equity and expand girls’ participation in STEM. For 20 years [23 now], we have been transforming STEM.”

The NGCP is largely funded by the National Science Foundation, but solicits public and corporate donations as well. There are 33 Collaboratives serving 41 states, PA among them, facilitating a broader national collaboration of about 42,500 organizations.

Among that impressive number of organizations, nationally, there were, as of 2023, more than 700 Library Network members and, at least at that time, a Museum and Library Service (IMLS) and Moore Foundation-funded grant entitled “Scaling, Supporting, and Sustaining Libraries as Community Hubs for Citizen Science.”

National Women’s History Month reminds us that there has often been inequity of training and career compensation for women in STEM fields. That there have been barriers, often in terms of discouragement to even enter the playing field. The NGCP does monitor this, and it has data at its website to support the trends.

It is hard to imagine a community enterprise more fitted to be among the collaborative organizations than a public Library. So, my challenge to any public Library that is not engaged with the National Girls Cooperative Project currently is to get engaged. Be a Public Resource Center. You will not have to be that alone, to start from scratch. The NGCP network is already there!