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CALENDAR - Book groups, organzations, and reading communities announce events open to the public.
CREATE – do some creative thinking about reading.
CONNECT - do some creative conversation and writing about reading for our Readers’ Blog. Add names to our Readers’ Roster.
COLLABORATE – launch new Living Libraries; secure space and management for thematic collections—70,000 books to supplement public libraries.
IDEAS – a place to bank ideas as they emerge in reflection and conversation.
QUOTES & EXCERPTS – submit your favorites about reading.
LINKS – articles and sites for further exploration.
FAQ – submit your questions to add to this page.
HISTORY – become a participant in our story.
WAYS TO HELP – a crucial page!
JOIN OUR TEAM – reader leaders who serve our communities in Portage County.
Ideas are seeds waiting for someone to take the next step with "water, soil, and sunshine".
Submit on the home page FORM new ideas and next steps that emerge in your reflections and conversations.
Our team will post them here as we weave our local reading culture.
CLICK to DOWNLOAD FLYER and add date, time and place. (pdf file)
Can you host a meeting where you work or worship? (Download sample flyer)
Sample announcement: You are invited to learn about Living Libraries. Contribute your ideas on how to CREATE the means to CONNECT Portage County readers who COLLABORATE to weave a lively, local Reading Culture. The 50-minute public meeting will be held on [date, time] at [place]. For more information call 715-864-2442,
Sample Agenda
1. Introduce ourselves by characterizing our reading experiences (“Do I identify as a reader?
What subjects are my favorite? What have I read that will benefit others?”) Then discuss as a whole group, “Why is reading important for each of the ten domains?)
2. What possibilities can you imagine for a “lively Reading Culture” or a “Living Library”? (If the group is more than 8 people, start discussion in smaller groups.)
3. Unpack content of the bookmark and Google site. Explain the meaning of the acronym READ: Reflect – Exchange – Ask/Answer – Decide
4. Declaration of tasks and talents; next steps.
CREATE NEW LIVING LIBRARIES (Reading Communities)
Recruit a cohort (possibly identified by a Dewey Decimal class, such as 100 Philosophy and Psychology; 200 Religion; 300 Social Sciences, etc.; or by a more specific Dewey division, such as 220 Bible; 302 Social Interaction; 374 Adult Education, etc. cf. List of Dewey Decimal numbers)
Each Living Library promotes public celebration of its knowledge domain:
Steering team to strategize and recruit participation
Docents for public library and other collections
Public lectures, panels, seminars, courses
Guest speakers in schools and intergenerational gatherings
Collaborate with UWSP departments, faculty and students
Any group of people can organize as a reading community and CREATE a Living Library. As we CONNECT and get to know one another, ideas to COLLABORATE emerge.
Stage 1 (Power of 10): A creative team of 10+ readers commit time and talent to the development of Living Libraries in Portage County by planning strategies and timelines.
Stage 2 (Power of 100): 100+ readers connect to build relationships and to invest in the concept of Living Libraries with their own initiatives, such as reading focus groups, stewardship of thematic collections, and distinct Living Libraries.
Stage 3 (Power of 1,000): A collaborative network -- 1,000+ readers engage in Living Library activities. Actively engaged 3.5% of the population ensures serious political change.[i] 3.5% of Portage County households = 1,072. By this stage organization of Living Libraries will be enhanced by grants and non-profit status.
Reading, a personal and creative act, has great social potential. We are bound to have different opinions influenced by education and a variety of social and mass media. We enlarge our reading when we subject it to critical thinking, share it with others, summarize and paraphrase, apply lessons learned. Critical reading and open dialogue are two ways to listen and to temper polarized views. A literate society, or reading culture, can be indicated by external factors[ii], and by the quantity and quality of interactions among readers.
Next Action Steps:
Conduct in-person "Do the Dewey" sessions about Living Libraries. After several cohorts identify themselves create online space for Living Libraries to connect with each other -- on this site or another, such as this draft begun years ago: https://llibcwi.wixsite.com/website (needs a designer and new platform.)
Plan other strategies to identify and generate Living Libraries (Reading Communities) in Portage County. For example, a church congregation could become an intentional reading community.
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ORIGINAL LIVING LIBRARY
The original Living Library idea was first implemented in 2000 in Europe to challenge prejudice and discrimination--not to judge a book (or person) by their “cover.” Volunteers offer their life experience on a particular topic or label. Partners “borrow” a person in the "catalog" for a scheduled conversation. Every person is a library of experiences and insights. We create culture one conversation at a time. UWSP has implemented this tool a couple times.
Links about original Living Libraries:
https://humanlibrary.org/ https://alivinglibrary.org/ https://livinglibrary.nl/
https://livingbooksinschools.weebly.com/about-living-library.html https://library.tamu.edu/human-library/index.php
https://www.livinglibraries.uk/ (Oral history project -- people who use, work in and run public libraries)
Our expanded notion of Living Libraries creates social means for heart-to-heart dialogue, so that in-person connections become a norm in our daily life. Each person is a library of life experiences others might “borrow”. Exchanging our perspectives, sometimes across differences, creates healthy communities, and may temper polarized opinions influenced by what we read in print or read/hear in media.
Next Action Steps:
Host a Living Library event, such as described at links above, or a "Do the Dewey" event.
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Assessing Literacy in Portage County
Starting at UW-Whitewater (2003) and later at Central Connecticut State University, Dr. John W. Miller conducted an annual literacy ranking of large cities. Indicators of a reading culture include libraries, bookstores, newspapers, periodicals, education level, public reading spots, internet use, literary groups and events.
20 Literate Cities (2017)
Adult Literacy State and County Indicators
America's most and least literate cities (2014)
America’s Most Bookish Cities - What 1,841 bookstores tell us about the character of 896 cities by Karl Sluis (2018)
Most Literate Cities (2015)
Find more links on this site's LINKS page: LITERACY: CITIES & TOWNS
Next Action Steps:
Work with libraries, Literacy Council of Portage County, and local government to assess current levels of various kinds of literacy and recommendations to enhance our local reading culture.
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Mapping Little Free Libraries in Portage County
Map them; create new ones; celebrate free libraries
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PUBLIC READINGS
Events to honor important persons, works, anniversaries, etc.
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