Recently, the New York Public Library launched a new pilot series in select library branches across three boroughs. Community Conversations encourages open dialogue where everyone’s voice can be heard.Â
When you, as a resident, participate in Community Conversations, you can expect to:
When the staff at Waimea (Hawaii) Public Library learned that the county of Kauai needed their community’s feedback on development plans for a new 417-acre parcel of land, they saw an opportunity to continue the library’s engagement work. What the library staff could not have known was that it would also be an opportunity to be part of helping a community regain trust in its leaders.
LTC: Focus on Small and Rural Libraries is open to libraries in the U.S. and U.S. territories that serve small or rural communities. The Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) defines small communities as those with a legal service area population of 25,000 or less and rural communities as those more than, or equal to, five miles from an urbanized area.
Although video calls are more common these days, tele-conferencing may be the more accessible option for some members of your community.
People with poor internet connectivity and those who lack tech skills can be left behind when it comes to video conferencing and video-based programs. Tele-conferencing can be easier to use and still offer the same benefits as a video call.
It's a fact of life: whenever people get together to talk in a group, people are bound to monopolize the conversation ... or speak over one another ... or otherwise act in ways that are less than productive to your goals.
Ground rules, sometimes called group agreements, are a list of terms that participants agree to follow—and the facilitator agrees to uphold—during a conversation.
LTC: Focus on Small and Rural Libraries is open to libraries in the U.S. and U.S. territories that serve small or rural communities.
LTC: Focus on Small and Rural Libraries is open to libraries in the U.S. and U.S. territories that serve small or rural communities.
Ben Franklin Circles are conversation clubs modeled on Benjamin Franklin’s “Junto.” Franklin gathered a small group of peers for weekly meetings where they explored how to improve themselves and the world around them.
The New York Public Library’s (NYPL) Jefferson Market branch, a historic building located in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village neighborhood, enjoys a close, long-standing and reciprocal relationship with the local community.
Conversation Cafés are great for helping community members learn more about themselves, their community or an issue, and the process is easily adaptable and requires minimal resources.
This webinar will emphasize how to organize and facilitate these cafés, shifting from small talk to big talk in conversations that matter. Learn more about the Conversation Café process.
The Future Search process enables large, diverse groups to validate a common mission, take responsibility for action, and develop commitment to implementation through concrete action plans. Libraries will gain an understanding of how Future Search can be used in their internal and community engagement efforts. Learn more about Future Search.
Participants in this session will:
Using NCDD’s Engagement Streams Framework and a variety of dialogue resources, participants will learn about the steps for designing successful dialogues that best fit their circumstances and resources. They will also gain an understanding of approaches to dialogue that can help them achieve their goals.
In this webinar, the program's creators will explore the 18-month development process, delivery and follow-up of the Truth & Reconciliation in Our Community event.
Participants in this session will learn:
The Longest Table, the first of its kind in Maryland, brought together a diverse group of more than 300 guests to share a meal and engage in meaningful conversation about their community. This program was part of Choose Civility, an ongoing community-wide initiative, led by Howard County Library System, to position Howard County as a model of civility. The initiative's mission values diversity and chooses respect, compassion, empathy and inclusiveness as essential to quality of life.
The Meet a Muslim program was founded by Moina Shaiq, a longtime resident of Fremont, our neighbor city to the north. After the San Bernadino shootings, Shaiq was moved to start educating people on what Muslims actually believe.
Session 1: “Beyond Deadlock: A Better Way to Talk about Difficult Issues," explores how to help people work together to talk about public issues and make choices, and how to uncover the deeper concerns of communities.
Also see Session 2, "Tools for Naming and Framing Public Issues."
