1. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia1 Civil Society and the Role of Libraries Nancy R. John University of Illinois at Chicago

2. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia2 Libraries play a key role  Inform citizens so they can make effective choices  Engage citizens in the issues of the day  Expose citizens to the diversity of the world  Teach citizens about different viewpoints

3. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia3 Why is this a key time?  Issues:  Digital inclusion  Marketplace inclusion  Societal issues: poverty, health, food supply, education, environment  2002 Johannesburg U.N. Summit on Sustainable Development identified:water, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity

4. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia4 Defining civil society  What it is not  Why it is important  A working definition:  A third sector of society alongside the state and the market; values include freedom of association,freedom of expression, participatory democracy, and respect for diversity; the sector between the government and the family.

5. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia5 Defining civil society (source: http://www.kcenter.com/phls/civil.htm )http://www.kcenter.com/phls/civil.htm

6. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia6 Some key strategies  The engaged university  Partnerships  Outreach  Open access

7. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia7 Engaged university  Partnerships  Student involvement in the community  Cooperation  Innovation in curriculum  Learning community

8. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia8 UIC’s Great Cities Commitment  Established in 1993, but idea around much longer  Permeates the university  Decentralized approach  Simple idea: a great city has a great university that helps it to solves its problems

9. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia9 Great Cities @UIC

10. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia10 UIC Library Partnerships  U.S. Department of Energy http://doe.lib.uic.edu/ http://doe.lib.uic.edu/  Printer’s Row Book Fair http://www.printersrowbookfair.org http://www.printersrowbookfair.org  Local museums and professional groups  Local libraries

11. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia11 UIC Library Outreach  High schools  Museums  Libraries  Civic groups  Donors

12. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia12 UIC Library Open Access  On-site users http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu  Reciprocal arrangements:  50 Illinois universities  3 local high schools  alumni  corporate members  hospitals  Public

13. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia13 Key areas of a civil society  Intellectual freedom  Information literacy  Service to the community  Access to information

14. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia14 Intellectual freedom  Importance of ideas in civil society  Ideas are tested only when citizens acquires a knowledge of different viewpoints  Ideas and knowledge must be preserved and made accessible

15. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia15 Information literacy  Citizens need to acquire the skills to access and use information  For the library, this means teaching skills not just giving answers  For the university, this means librarians in the classroom  Libraries of all kinds provide continuous lifelong learning

16. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia16 Service to the community  Public (and school) libraries often serve as community meeting places  Libraries serve through outreach to the community  Librarians have skills to promote working together and respectful sharing of ideas  Libraries cut across many types of citizen groups

17. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia17 Access to information  Libraries buy, license, collect, catalog, maintain, and preserve information and provide access to citizens  Libraries cooperate by:  Lending (sharing)  Buying (joint purchase)  Preserving (joint storage)

18. Fostering Civil Society, Yerevan, Armenia18 Why should universities (and their libraries) support civil society?  It makes for a better university  It’s the right thing to do  No agency is better suited  We reach citizens at an important stage in their lives  Citizens engaged in civic life support their universities and their libraries