1,720,967 research outputs found
Can the First Amendment Coexist with Civility? Response to ‘What Is the Role of Law in Promoting Civility? What Are Its Limits?'
No full textRancorous rhetoric has taken over the public square, causing many citizens to retreat from democratic work. Although self-governance and human dignity benefit when citizens express their views, it takes more than diverse voices to make democracy strong. It takes civility--reasoned public discourse where respect, restraint, responsibility, and empathy coexist with free expression so that fellow citizens can hear each other. And it also takes safe spaces—public forums like those in libraries, where communities come together at the intersection of law and civility and strike their own balance between the boundaries and norms of civil discourse.Originally published in Insights on Law & Society
Promoting Adult Learning Through Civil Discourse in the Public Library
No full textThis chapter investigates the adult learning through civil discourse within public library settings. Crucial to the success of a working democracy, the author traces the history of libraries as locations for the development of an engaged and knowledgeable citizenry.This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Kranich, Nancy. "Promoting Adult Learning Through Civil Discourse in the Public Library." New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, no. 127, Fall 2010: 15-24, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ace.377/pdf.Peer reviewe
Deliberative Dialogue: Changing the CD Discourse
No full textThis article provides a brief overview of deliberative dialogue and its useful role in professional development for school librarians.Chapter in Growing Schools: Librarians as Professional Developers (Libraries Unlimited, 2012, pp. 299-302), edited by Debbie Abilock, Kristin Fontichiaro, and Violet H. Harada
Libraries and Strong Democracy: Moving from an Informed to a Participatory 21st Century Citizenry
No full textDespite almost universal access to schools, libraries, and information, Americans appear no better informed about the issues and choices before them than in earlier days. Citizens are disconnected from one another and new technologies leave many behind in the digital age--some unable to participate fully in community life. If libraries are to continue to meet the personal and civic information needs of their communities, they need to reexamine their core beliefs and strengthen their capacity to move beyond the bounds of informing citizens to engaging them more actively in public life. Today’s libraries are well equipped to serve as active agents of democracy if they take intentional, strategic action to ensure the civic health and information vitality of their communities and their democracy. They have the potential to become the cornerstones of a strong democracy where citizens can come together to make tough choices about issues of common concern.The published version of this article appears in Indiana Libraries, and is available at this location: http://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/IndianaLibraries/article/view/422
Libraries and Civic Engagement
No full textLibraries have long played an important role in the civic life of their communities and organizations. Today, they are more involved than ever convening community conversations, building civic literacy, educating a new generation of citizens, and engaging constituents in issues of common concern. This article provides an overview of the role of libraries in civic engagement, the state of public participation in American life, an historical survey of library involvement, and current opportunities for all types of libraries to partner and participate in civic life.Peer reviewe
The promise of academic libraries: Turning outward to transform campus communities
No full textLast fall, ALA launched a national partnership with the Harwood Institute. The Harwood Institute helps organizations “turn outward” toward their communities through the use of conversations where they gain the “public knowledge” they need to align their work more closely with their community’s aspirations. ALA’s joint initiative, “The Promise of Libraries Transforming Communities,” is developing a national plan to advance community engagement and innovation and transform the role of libraries in their communities. Although a few public libraries have previously used the Harwood framework, Rutgers has pioneered applying this approach in an academic library.This is the version of record of an article published in College & Research Libraries News. The article is also available at http://crln.acrl.org/content/75/4/182.full.Peer reviewe
Countering Enclosure: Reclaiming the Knowledge Commons
No full textNumerous forces are enclosing the knowledge commons and threatening the sustainability of scholarly communication. This chapter describes strategies deployed to counter enclosure, many of which are undertaken through the collective action of librarians and scholars working together worldwide. It then considers alternative models for delivering research resources that expand access and participation, as well as the role of research libraries in these efforts. It also discusses the challenges to achieving these new operational modes. The author then proposes some designs for governance structures, financial models, and advocacy efforts that will help transform the academy into a 21st century institution that organizes, safeguards, preserves and promotes the knowledge assets of the scholarly community. Finally, the author suggests research that is needed to advance theory and practice related to the development of sustainable knowledge commons in the digital age.Book chapter originally published in Hess, Charlotte and Elinor Ostrom, eds., Understanding Knowledge as a Commons: From Theory to Practice, pp. 85-122. © 2006 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, by permission of the MIT Press.Peer reviewe
Remembering Carlton Rochell
No full textDr. Carlton C. Rochell, who served as Dean of Libraries at New York University (NYU) from 1976–1999, died in Nashville, TN, on Dec. 23 at the age of 85 after a brief illness.
Rochell came to NYU shortly after the University combined 38 separate collections into the dramatic new Philip Johnson-designed Elmer Holmes Bobst Library. He managed and integrated those disparate collections by introducing innovative technological solutions that became models for the nation. During his tenure, the library's collection size doubled, the book endowment grew 1,200 percent, and circulation of books and materials expenditures both tripled. Rochell asserted a leadership role that transformed the NYU Libraries into a world-class resource
The Civic Mission of School Libraries
No full textIn this new century, school librarians have expanded their roles and now serve as chief information officers, knowledge navigators, and teacher-librarians, partnering in the learning process. Adopting many of the practices recommended in AASL’s Information Power, school librarians are now well positioned to foster good citizenship by collaborating “with students and other members of the learning community to analyze learning and information needs, and use resources that will meet those needs, and to understand and communicate the information the resources provide." Moreover, they are redesigning facilities so they are more conducive to inquiry and group study that both reflect and create community, and that bring people together through multicultural arts programming, issue forums, training opportunities, intellectual dialogue and exchange. Beyond designing facilities, collaborating with teachers, and developing resources, school librarians enhance civic participation by teaching students to employ the critical thinking skills needed to find, evaluate and use information effectively, efficiently, and responsibly. Students need sophisticated information literacy skills to live, learn, and work in the digital age as well as to carry out the day-to-day activities of citizens in a developed, democratic society. Ever since the days of John Dewey, educators have recognized the vital role of education in teaching civic understanding and active citizenshi
Safe/Brave Spaces: Engaging Future Citizens through School Libraries
No full textAlthough schools have not routinely taught civics since the 1970s, a burgeoning movement to incorporate such studies into the curriculum is taking shape around the country. This movement opens doors for school librarians to engage students in new and innovative ways, bringing a diversity of future citizens safe (and brave) spaces where they have a voice, listen to each other, and share interests, concerns, and decision-making. If school librarians seize this important moment, they will create new opportunities for teaching the kind of critical thinking skills they have embraced for years. Undoubtedly, school libraries are well positioned to become critical actors in the kind of civic learning promoted by Levine and Kawashima-Ginsberg, just as they have traditionally prepared students to succeed in college and careers. But they must incorporate that 3rd “C”—citizenship, to ensure that tomorrow’s adults take an active role in the collective life of their communities and country, and not just their own individual pursuits. School libraries can make a marked difference in the civic mission of schools by reimagining learning spaces, convening civil public forums, fostering civic literacy, and building civic partnerships.Contract permits posting on repository. Negotiated for this
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