1. Something to Talk About Creating Dialogue and Transforming Viewpoints through Library and Community Collaboration Lacy Wolfe, Ouachita Baptist University

2. Engaged institutions  Kellogg Commission Survey (2000)  Call for universities to become increasingly involved in their local communities  “An engaged university understands the need to take its expertise and resources beyond the walls of academe and into the community.”  “By engagement the Commission envisions partnerships, two-way streets defined by mutual respect among the partners for what each brings to the table.” Malanchuk, Iona and Marilyn Ocha “Academic Librarians and Outreach Beyond the College Campus”

3. Library Engagement  Community Access  Information Literacy  Exhibitions and Scholarly Events  Cooperation, Exchange, and Partnership Leong, Jack “Community Engagement – Building Bridges between University and Community by Academic Libraries in the 21 st Century”

4. Benefits of Academic and Public Library Partnerships  Improved Relationships  Synergies in Staff Expertise  Higher Visibility  Establishing Successful Partnerships Mathson, Stephanie M., Robin M. Sabo, and Joyce Salisbury “Growing Grassroots Collaboration Between Academic and Public Libraries”

5. Project  “Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle” “Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle”  Awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Gilder Lehman Institute of American History

6. Location & Goal  Arkadelphia, Arkansas Arkadelphia, Arkansas  Bridge racial and cultural divides within a small southern community through academic, public, and school library collaboration

7. Process  Partnering institutions:  Henderson State University  Ouachita Baptist University  Arkadelphia High School  Clark County Public Library  The City’s Racial and Cultural Diversity Committee  Programming scheduled  Publicity efforts  Library assistant with graphic design background

8. The Loving Story film clip

9. The Loving Story Lecture

10. Freedom Riders Panel Discussion Freedom Riders film

11. Panel Members

12. Slavery by Another Name article discussion Slavery by Another Name film

13. Clark County Public Library

14. Children’s Program

15. Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. By: Doreen Rappaport The Story of Ruby Bridges By: Robert Coles

16. Freedom Summer By: Deborah Wiles This is the Dream By: Diane Z. Shore & Jessica Alexander

17. My Own Two Hands Civil Rights Worksheets Civil Rights Activity Book

18. Lessons Learned  Communicate clearly with community partner expectations  Host an event at the high school to draw teen audience  Collaborate with faculty to offer bonus points for college students  Expand programming to two semesters  More thorough assessment – user surveys (satisfaction of overall experience, event organization, speakers, facilities and equipment, hospitality)

19. “Kitchen Table” Conversations Community Conversation Guide The Work of Hope: How Individuals and Organizations Can Authentically Do Good The Work of Hope: How Individuals and Organizations Can Authentically Do Good by: Richard C. Harwood

20. “Kitchen Table” Questions  What are your aspirations for your community?  What will it take to reach our aspirations for the community?  What would it take to get people thinking beyond instant gratification?  In this community, what are some things that would help restore our belief that we can get things done together? Where could we get started?  What would give you hope that we are moving in the right direction in our community?

21. Where to start?  Start small  Banned Books Week (September 27 – October 3)  National Library Week (April 10-16)  Discuss mutually beneficial goals at the outset  Communicate often and include some face-to-face interaction  Identify and concentrate on a few high visibility opportunities  Focus on building synergies based on the strengths of the respective libraries  Repeat only those activities that been well received in the past, and drop activities that were not popular Mathson, Stephanie M., Robin M. Sabo, and Joyce Salisbury “Growing Grassroots Collaboration Between Academic and Public Libraries”

22. Thank you! Please feel free to contact me with any questions at wolfel@obu.edu wolfel@obu.edu