Location: Bella Vista, Bentonville, Eureka Springs, Fayetteville, Lowell, Rogers, Siloam Springs, Springdale
Organization Type: Advocacy & Service, Arts Education & Support, Community & Cultural, Crafts & Applied Arts, Literary & Language Arts, Media, Film & Digital Arts, Performing Arts, Visual Arts
Mission: The Community Literacies Collaboratory is a center focused on the intersection of literacy and applied arts practices – those every day practices of creativity that introduce, grow, and promote literacy learning and development in people of all ages. We facilitate and support this work through a variety of literacy partnerships – ranging from scholarly research and educational and policy initiatives, to community programming centered on various aspects of empowerment and advocacy in Arkansas and nationally. The three parts of CLC’s name speaks to a vital part of the full essence of the CLC and its work. By ‘community’ we seek to grow and nurture literacy within communities in Arkansas and beyond, while honoring that literacy and community are vital to and constitutive of one another.
Next, with ‘literacies,’ we refer to the practices of meaning-making that include but are not limited to traditional modes of literacy: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Literacies are inherent to every measure of self and communal expression, from what we read and write, to the portraits we paint, the photographs we take, the clothes we sew or wear, the histories we archive, and the diversity of languages we honor and embrace across communities. Lastly,‘ collaboratory’ characterizes the incubator in which we invite, sponsor, and sustain collaborative community literacies work among various literacies stakeholders who, though not always collocated, are no less mutually invested in the transformative power of literacies. The vision of The Community Literacies Collaboratory is to, through the principled ethics of justice, imagination, community accountability, and love, create and support partnerships and programs in four key areas:
· research
· education
· advocacy
· empowerment
Through this vision, we invite all literacy stakeholders – advocates, educators, librarians, researchers, policymakers, and creatives – to dream projects that will help all people practice literacies more fluently, richly, productively, and joyfully.
The CLC’s work is organized around four major programs:
Our ‘Seed and Growth’ and ‘Literacy Research’Grants program through which, as of Summer 2026, we have provided over 355,000 in funds to support literacy programs and research in Arkansas and nationally.
The Possibilities Hub which presents seminars, reading groups, or a series of talks that explore a topic through and/or about literacy to expand individual and communal capacity to understand what literacy work can be and do today.
The Literacy Exchange provides workshops and training led by stakeholders from across the literacies and applied arts spectrum to provide an introductory or enrichment opportunity for other literacy and culture workers to gain insight into a dimension of literacy and applied arts work of which they have interest but may be unfamiliar. This includes writing workshops, presentations on starting and operating applied literacy programs, training on incorporating various kinds of literature into K-12 classrooms, creating afterschool youth literacy programs, creative approaches to doing adult literacy work, and workshops on literacy research and methodology and policy advocacy.
A triennial Community Literacies Collaboratory Symposium through which community literacies practitioners in Arkansas and across the nation share the latest in their literacy advocacy efforts and build community and greater capacity for literacy work.
Our peer-reviewed journal, The Sandbox: Short Paper, Big Ideas on Literacy and Learning, where community literacies workers (educators, creatives, school/public/community librarians, researchers, and activists) write thought provoking, accessible, brief essays, policy memos, or reports on a timely issue within literacy learning and practice. The purpose of these papers is to provide nuanced insight into a salient issue for general audiences, creating a resource for people to use in efforts to shape literacy learning, development, and practice for the better and across a wide range of contexts.
Community Literacies Collaboratory
Location: Bella Vista, Bentonville, Eureka Springs, Fayetteville, Lowell, Rogers, Siloam Springs, Springdale
Organization Type: Advocacy & Service, Arts Education & Support, Community & Cultural, Crafts & Applied Arts, Literary & Language Arts, Media, Film & Digital Arts, Performing Arts, Visual Arts
Events
Please visit this organization's website or social links below for upcoming events. You can also check out CACHE's Arts + Culture Calendar, featuring hundreds of creative events every month in Northwest Arkansas. Zero FOMO.
Mission
The Community Literacies Collaboratory is a center focused on the intersection of literacy and applied arts practices – those every day practices of creativity that introduce, grow, and promote literacy learning and development in people of all ages. We facilitate and support this work through a variety of literacy partnerships – ranging from scholarly research and educational and policy initiatives, to community programming centered on various aspects of empowerment and advocacy in Arkansas and nationally. The three parts of CLC’s name speaks to a vital part of the full essence of the CLC and its work. By ‘community’ we seek to grow and nurture literacy within communities in Arkansas and beyond, while honoring that literacy and community are vital to and constitutive of one another.
Next, with ‘literacies,’ we refer to the practices of meaning-making that include but are not limited to traditional modes of literacy: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Literacies are inherent to every measure of self and communal expression, from what we read and write, to the portraits we paint, the photographs we take, the clothes we sew or wear, the histories we archive, and the diversity of languages we honor and embrace across communities. Lastly,‘ collaboratory’ characterizes the incubator in which we invite, sponsor, and sustain collaborative community literacies work among various literacies stakeholders who, though not always collocated, are no less mutually invested in the transformative power of literacies. The vision of The Community Literacies Collaboratory is to, through the principled ethics of justice, imagination, community accountability, and love, create and support partnerships and programs in four key areas:
· research
· education
· advocacy
· empowerment
Through this vision, we invite all literacy stakeholders – advocates, educators, librarians, researchers, policymakers, and creatives – to dream projects that will help all people practice literacies more fluently, richly, productively, and joyfully.
The CLC’s work is organized around four major programs:
Our ‘Seed and Growth’ and ‘Literacy Research’Grants program through which, as of Summer 2026, we have provided over 355,000 in funds to support literacy programs and research in Arkansas and nationally.
The Possibilities Hub which presents seminars, reading groups, or a series of talks that explore a topic through and/or about literacy to expand individual and communal capacity to understand what literacy work can be and do today.
The Literacy Exchange provides workshops and training led by stakeholders from across the literacies and applied arts spectrum to provide an introductory or enrichment opportunity for other literacy and culture workers to gain insight into a dimension of literacy and applied arts work of which they have interest but may be unfamiliar. This includes writing workshops, presentations on starting and operating applied literacy programs, training on incorporating various kinds of literature into K-12 classrooms, creating afterschool youth literacy programs, creative approaches to doing adult literacy work, and workshops on literacy research and methodology and policy advocacy.
A triennial Community Literacies Collaboratory Symposium through which community literacies practitioners in Arkansas and across the nation share the latest in their literacy advocacy efforts and build community and greater capacity for literacy work.
Our peer-reviewed journal, The Sandbox: Short Paper, Big Ideas on Literacy and Learning, where community literacies workers (educators, creatives, school/public/community librarians, researchers, and activists) write thought provoking, accessible, brief essays, policy memos, or reports on a timely issue within literacy learning and practice. The purpose of these papers is to provide nuanced insight into a salient issue for general audiences, creating a resource for people to use in efforts to shape literacy learning, development, and practice for the better and across a wide range of contexts.
About
Founded in May 2022 by Dr. Eric Darnell Pritchard, Brown Chair in English Literacy and Associate Professor of English at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, the Community Literacies Collaboratory is the signature program of the Brown Chair in English Literacy, a concerted effort by the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, supported generously by a grant from the Brown Foundation and matching Walton Family Gift, to improve literacy throughout the state and beyond its boundaries.
Website, Video & Social Links
Website:
https://communityliteraciescollaboratory.com
Video Link:
Social Links:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/cl-collaboratory
https://www.instagram.com/cl_collaboratory/
https://facebook.com/uarkbrownchair
https://www.tiktok.com/@cl_collab