Living Room Conversations: Connecting Your Library Community Through Conversation
Community conversations are an important way to connect libraries with the communities they serve. In this webinar, you will learn why it is important for libraries to be hubs for dialogue and strategies for implementing community conversations in all library types and sizes.
Living Room Conversations are a simple, easy, and effective way to bring your community together through community conversations and civic dialogue programming. Living Room Conversations offers a plug-and-play library program that allows both small and rural as well as large and urban libraries to hold community conversations on a wide range of topics. This webinar will guide participants through the Living Room Conversations dialogue model and offer examples of how libraries across the country have brought their communities together to engage in thoughtful, respectful, and transformative conversations.
Learning Outcomes
In this webinar, attendees will:
- Learn how to access free dialogue resources, including conversation guides on over 160 topics
- Be introduced to the Living Room Conversations dialogue model and plug-and-play library program
- Explore how to deepen their library’s role as an inclusive and engaging community center
- Learn techniques for launching community conversations at your library
Accommodations
This webinar will be presented online via Zoom. Closed captions will be enabled during the presentation, and we will email a copy of the slide deck to all registered attendees 24 hours before the presentation. The chat transcript and recording will be provided to all attendees within 48 hours of the webinar. If you need other reasonable accommodations, please reach out to us via email at publicprograms@ala.org by February 13, 2024. Requests made after that date may not be able to be accommodated.
Resource List
- Presenter slides
- Urban Libraries Council Declaration of Democracy
- American Public Square
- Media Literacy Week
- Productive Conversations Without Confrontation
- Bridgebuilding Resource Hub
- Proclamation on Second Chance Month
- Civic Engagement
- Recruiting Jobs
- PLA Data Performance Measurement
- National Week of Conversation
- Library Invites Patrons Connect Through Conversation
- Crossing Party Lines
- Signature Experiences
- Disagree Better
- Living Room Conversations
- Topics Redesign
- Join Living Room Conversation
- Trust in Elections
- Disability and Ableism
- Download Belonging
Annie Caplan is the Libraries Partner for Living Room Conversations. She provides libraries with consulting, tools, and resources to hold community conversations and civic dialogue programming using the Living Room Conversations dialogue model. She is also on the Literacy and Outreach Steering Committee for Boulder Public Library. Before joining Living Room Conversations, Annie was an Adult Services Librarian at Sayre Public Library. Annie is passionate about increasing civic engagement and connecting communities through library-led dialogue initiatives.
Jenny Garmon is a consultant, advisory board member, and facilitator based in Kansas City. She is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, Ohio State University (Public Policy M.A.), and Emporia State University (M.L.S). In addition to her military service, Jenny is a former federal employee recognized for her award-winning work as an analyst, branch chief, and advisor. Her recent role as the first civic engagement specialist for the Kansas City Public Library brought her great joy as she launched media literacy, news literacy, and justice-involved programs while collaborating with partners to connect Kansas Citians through conversations.
