From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Deborah Littrell
Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 8:25
AM
To:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [syscon-tx] FW: Texas
Forums: Join a Virtual Presentation!!
Please distribute this information to your
members
-----Original Message-----
From: Taylor Willingham
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 12:28
AM
To:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Texas Forums: Join a
Virtual Presentation!!
Join a Virtual Panel Presentation on
How To:
Host a September Project
at Your Library
Using National Issues Forums materials on
Democracy’s
Challenge: Reclaiming the Public’s Role
Date:
July 28
Time: 3:00
p.m. edt, 2:00 cdt, 1:00 mdt, 12:00 pdt
Location:
OPAL Auditorium
Sponsored by: Texas Forums, an initiative of the LBJ
Presidential Library on behalf of the National Issues Forum Institute.
How
to attend: To attend this event, go to the OPAL (Online Programming for All
Libraries) Website and enter the
auditorium link on the left hand side of the page. . You will need a
computer with speakers. If you have a microphone attached to your computer, you
will be able to pose questions to the panelist orally. Otherwise, you can
interact via text messaging in the virtual auditorium. If you have never
attended an OPAL event, check out the video introduction at: http://www.opal-online.org/OPALpromo200603b.wmv.
(Windows Media Video file; playback time 2 minutes, 39 seconds)
Program
description: The September Project encourages libraries to host free civic
events about freedom, democracy, and citizenship in remembrance of September
11th. The National Issues Forums discussion guide, Democracy’s Challenge:
Reclaiming the Public’s Role is particularly well-suited for this
year’s September Project events. Participants in this online panel
presentation will learn about the history and innovative programs offered by
1,100 libraries in 34 countries as part of the September Project over the past
two years. (For up-to-date information about new projects coming on line, track
The September Project Blog: http://theseptemberproject.blogspot.com/)
In particular, participants will learn about a unique opportunity to:
- Obtain free materials you can use to host
community discussions on the National Issues Forums (NIF) discussion
guide, Democracy’s Challenge: Reclaiming the Public’s
Role,
- Make the results of their forums a part of a
report on hundreds of other forums on this issue that will be presented to
Congress in the fall of 2006,
- Use their forums to connect with their local public
television stations and the documentary Public Voice 2006, People and
Politics: Facing Democracy’s Challenge featuring excerpts of NIF
forums and commentary by nationally known political leaders and
commentators, who reflect on what this “public voice” may mean
in setting a new direction for America.
Join
with hundred of others in the NIF network who are hosting forums on
Democracy’s Challenge.
Presenter:
David Silver, Co-Director, The September Project
Presenter,
Sarah Washburn, Co-Director, The September Project
Presenter:
Michael Baldwin, Director, Benbrook (TX) Public Library
Moderator:
Taylor Willingham, Coordinator
of Texas Forums, an initiative of the LBJ Library, and Co-founder of the ALA Membership
Initiative Group, Libraries Fostering Civic
Engagement
Convener:
Nancy Kranich, Past President of American Library Association and Co-Founder of
the ALA Membership Initiative Group, Libraries Fostering Civic
Engagement
David Silver is the co-director of The September
Project and leads the project's outreach efforts. As a citizen, David believes
libraries represent the heart, soul, and collective memory of our communities.
As a reader, David looks to libraries, and librarians, for new ideas, new perspectives,
and new solutions. His local library is the Ballard Branch <http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=branch_open&branchID=3>
of the Seattle Public Library. His work library is the University of
Washington's Suzzallo Library <http://www.lib.washington.edu>.
Sarah Washburn is Co-director of The
September Project, and leads the online and offline community efforts of the
project. She is inspired and influenced by the endlessly creative and driven
community of librarians around the world. A lifelong supporter and user of
libraries, she likes to check out libraries on vacation and business trips, and
has been known to visit numerous hometown libraries on a given Saturday. Her
first memory of libraries impacting her life was as a member of the summer
reading club at the W. Clarke Swanson Library <http://www.omahapubliclibrary.org>
in Omaha, Nebraska. She will never forget the excitement of watching her name
appear in construction paper stars each time she finished a book.
Mike Baldwin is Director of the
Benbrook (Texas) Public Library and a member of the Texas Forums network. He holds
a master’s degree in public administration as well as library science and
has taught American government. Mike believes that libraries are essential to
the maintenance of American democracy and that proactive stimulation of
responsible citizenship should be a primary component of the public library
mission. To that end he wrote the article “Can Libraries Save
Democracy?” in Library Journal (10/15/2002) and “Librarians As
Knowledge Provocateurs” (Public Libraries, March/April, 2006). Mike has
also proposed that the American Library Association initiate a One Book/One
Nation project that will ask all Americans to read and discuss the same book on
an issue of importance to American democracy. Mike is on the board of The
September Project. The Benbrook Public Library’s September Project
program this year will be a public forum using the NIF materials,
“Democracy’s Challenge: Reclaiming the public’s role.”
This presentation is being convened by
members of the Libraries Fostering Civic Engagement Membership Initiative Group
of the American Library Association Membership. The Civic Engagement MIG was
formed to provide an ALA "organizational home" for members interested
in facilitating public forums, fostering civic engagement, and framing issues for
deliberation in their communities. For more information about this MIG and
other community engagement resources, go to: http://nancykranich.pingotter.com/blog.
Texas Forums, an initiative of the LBJ
Presidential Library is hosting this event on behalf of the National Issues
Forums Institute. For more information, contact Taylor Willingham.
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