diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 833b7fea7..3f66b739f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        python-version: ['3.8', '3.11', '3.12']
+        python-version: ['3.11', '3.12']
         toxenv: [quality, django42]
 
     steps:
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ jobs:
       run: tox -e ${{ matrix.toxenv }}
 
     - name: Run Coverage
-      if: matrix.python-version == '3.8' && matrix.toxenv == 'django42'
+      if: matrix.python-version == '3.11' && matrix.toxenv == 'django42'
       uses: codecov/codecov-action@v4
       with:
         flags: unittests
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pypi-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/pypi-publish.yml
index 45532a9e3..333f958f2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pypi-publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pypi-publish.yml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: setup python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v2
         with:
-          python-version: 3.8
+          python-version: 3.11
 
       - name: Install pip
         run: pip install wheel setuptools
diff --git a/.readthedocs.yaml b/.readthedocs.yaml
index 1d5323576..d52e4ea2b 100644
--- a/.readthedocs.yaml
+++ b/.readthedocs.yaml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ formats:
 build:
   os: "ubuntu-22.04"
   tools:
-    python: "3.8"
+    python: "3.11"
 
 # Optionally set the version of Python and requirements required to build your docs
 python:
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index a2fa900bb..6626a4786 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -5,6 +5,13 @@ Change history for XBlock
 Unreleased
 ----------
 
+5.0.0 - 2024-05-30
+------------------
+
+* dropped python 3.8 support
+* transitioned from deprecated pkg_resources lib to importlib.resources
+
+
 4.1.0 - 2024-05-16
 ------------------
 
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 82369656f..d4d40ae76 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ One Time Setup
    cd XBlock
 
    # Set up a virtualenv using virtualenvwrapper with the same name as the repo and activate it
-   mkvirtualenv -p python3.8 XBlock
+   mkvirtualenv -p python3.11 XBlock
 
 Every time you develop something in this repo
 ---------------------------------------------
diff --git a/docs/xblock-tutorial/getting_started/prereqs.rst b/docs/xblock-tutorial/getting_started/prereqs.rst
index 9a6c8dfd7..a91510cdd 100644
--- a/docs/xblock-tutorial/getting_started/prereqs.rst
+++ b/docs/xblock-tutorial/getting_started/prereqs.rst
@@ -11,12 +11,12 @@ To build an XBlock, you must have the following tools on your computer.
  :depth: 1
 
 
-**********
-Python 3.8
-**********
+***********
+Python 3.11
+***********
 
 To run the a virtual environment and the XBlock SDK, and to build an XBlock,
-you must have Python 3.8 installed on your computer.
+you must have Python 3.1 installed on your computer.
 
 `Download Python`_ for your operating system and follow the installation
 instructions.
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ applications you might need.
 The instructions and examples in this tutorial use `VirtualEnv`_ and
 `VirtualEnvWrapper`_ to build XBlocks. You can also use `PyEnv`_.
 
-After you have installed Python 3.8, follow the `VirtualEnv Installation`_
+After you have installed Python 3.11, follow the `VirtualEnv Installation`_
 instructions.
 
 For information on creating the virtual environment for your XBlock, see
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 65340ad43..42f363d5f 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -73,7 +73,6 @@ def get_version(*file_paths):
         'License :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software License',
         'Natural Language :: English',
         "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
-        "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8",
         "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11",
         "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12",
     ]
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index d597966c4..4f9001094 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [tox]
-envlist = py{38,311,312}-django{42}, quality, docs
+envlist = py{311,312}-django{42}, quality, docs
 
 [pytest]
 DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE = xblock.test.settings
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ allowlist_externals =
 
 [testenv:docs]
 basepython =
-    python3.8
+    python3.11
 changedir =
     {toxinidir}/docs
 deps =
diff --git a/xblock/__init__.py b/xblock/__init__.py
index 6ac9bd16f..9ba6b90d0 100644
--- a/xblock/__init__.py
+++ b/xblock/__init__.py
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@
 XBlock Courseware Components
 """
 
-__version__ = '4.1.1'
+__version__ = '5.0.0'