[Publib] September Project & National Issues Forums

[Mike Baldwin]

Dear PubLib’ers,
      For the third year, we invite all librarians to participate in The September Project (TSP). Many thanks to those libraries that participated in previous years. TSP is an international initiative among libraries to use the 911 tragedy as a way to revitalize democracy in America and around the world. Participating libraries simply agree to present some type of program about democracy on or around September 11. You decide what kind of program it will be. The September Project, www.TheSeptemberProject.org, provides a listserv to keep you informed about programs, it provides resources and ideas, and it has a map of all participating libraries. There is no cost or obligation whatsoever. 
      The TSP program I’m doing this year will be a public forum on democracy. It’s being made easier by the fact that the National Issues Forum (NIF) has produced a forum workbook on democracy and is inviting libraries to produce programs using this resource. ALA will be using these workbooks for a forum on democracy at the upcoming ALA conference in New Orleans. 
     You can order a free sample packet of democracy discussion materials from NIF to see what it looks like. I’ve given further information below about NIF and how to order its materials. Please join TSP soon and order the free NIF materials. 

National Issues Forum Free Offer of Discussion Materials

The National Issues Forums Institute (nifi.org), has a special offer of some great free materials that they are distributing as one way of celebrating 25 years of convening National Issues Forums to help put people’s voices back into politics.  

Librarians are invited to take this opportunity to become part of the National Issues Forums network, and to utilize NIF’s newest issue book, “Democracy’s Challenge: Reclaiming the Public’s Role” as part of your 2006 TSP programming. 

As you know, many Americans are turning away from public life, becoming spectators rather than participants in our democracy.  People are frustrated with politics and the seemingly insurmountable partisan divide.  TSP and NIFI believe librarians can help change this trend by providing appropriate information resources and by encouraging citizens to take an active role in the democratic process.

This year the National Issues Forums Institute is offering an issue book that directly addresses the reasons we are all involved in this work.  "Democracy's Challenge: Reclaiming the Public's Role" tackles head-on the obstacles and issues people face in a democracy that appears to have nudged its citizens onto the sidelines.

Democracy’s Challenge forums encourage citizens to think about what they can do to strengthen the relationship that a democracy demands between the government and its people.  The issue book presents three perspectives on the problem, each of which suggests a somewhat different course of action.

Right now you are invited to take advantage of a limited time offer for free materials to use for convening a Democracy’s Challenge forum.  The free materials in each set include 1 copy of the full-length Democracy's Challenge issue discussion guide, 30 copies of the 8-page issue discussion-guide-in-brief, 1 copy of the moderator's guide, and 1 video.

To get involved in NIF or in the Democracy’s Challenge issue, we encourage you to:

- Order your free set of Democracy’s Challenge materials by calling 1-800-600-4060, or go to www.nifi.org/discussion_guides/index.aspx to download the moderator’s guide or issue brief. 

- Connect with the NIF network contacts nearest you.  These network hubs, listed at www.nifi.org/network/index.aspx, provide trainings and workshops, organize forums, and connect NIF folks in their region.

- Sign up to receive NIF e-newsletters and stay informed about network activities.  Email Patty Dineen at dineenp at msn.com with your name, email address, and mailing address (or just city and state) and ask her to add you to the NIF News email list.

- Go to www.nifi.org/calendar/index.aspx to look up moderator trainings in your area.

- Download “For Convenors and Moderators: Organizing for Public Deliberation and Moderating a Forum” at www.nifi.org/forums/detail.aspx?catID=4&itemID=230



What are National Issues Forums?

National Issues Forums (NIF) is a nonpartisan, nationwide network of locally sponsored public forums for the consideration of public policy issues. It is rooted in the simple notion that people need to come together to reason and talk — to deliberate about common problems. Indeed, democracy requires an ongoing deliberative public dialogue.

These forums, organized by a variety of organizations, groups, and individuals, offer citizens the opportunity to join together to deliberate, to make choices with others about ways to approach difficult issues and to work toward creating reasoned public judgment. Forums range from small or large group gatherings similar to town hall meetings, to study circles held in public places or in people's homes on an ongoing basis. 

The National Issues Forums Institute works closely with the Kettering Foundation,  an operating foundation rooted in the American tradition of inventive research.  Established in 1927, the central question behind the foundation's current research is this: What does it take to make democracy work as it should?

Forums focus on an issue such as health care, immigration, Social Security, or ethnic and racial tensions. The forums provide a way for people of diverse views and experiences to seek a shared understanding of the problem and to search for common ground for action. Forums are led by trained, neutral moderators, and use an issue discussion guide that frames the issue by presenting the overall problem and then three or four broad approaches to the problem. Forum participants work through the issue by considering each approach; examining what appeals to them or concerns them, and also what the costs, consequences, and trade offs may be that would be incurred in following that approach.

More information about NIF can be found at www.nifi.org.


Michael Baldwin, Director
Benbrook Library District
1065 Mercedes
Benbrook, TX 76126
Phone or fax: 817-249-6632
mikeb at benbrooklibrary.org 




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