Free Dialogue & Deliberation Workshop for Academic Libraries

Update 1/9/18: This workshop is now open to library professionals from all library types! Space is limited; please register early. The workshop will include breakout sessions for academic and non-academic libraries. Questions? Contact ALA's Public Programs Office at publicprograms@ala.org.

ALA, the Association of College & Research Librarians (ACRL) and the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD) will offer a free one-day workshop to teach academic librarians how to convene and facilitate community conversations on issues of importance to their communities and the nation.

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Librarians laugh during a dialogue and deliberation workshop
Academic librarians are invited to learn dialogue and deliberation techniques with the National Issues Forums Institute at the 2018 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver.

The workshop, “Libraries Transforming Communities: National Issues Forums Workshop for Academic Libraries,” will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, 2018, during the 2018 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver.

Participation is free for those registered for the Midwinter Meeting; academic library practitioners and students are welcome. Space in the workshop is limited, and advance registration and some pre-work is required. Learn more and register online.

The workshop will be led by experts affiliated with the National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI), a nonpartisan network of organizations and individuals that promote public deliberation in the United States. National Issues Forums are neutral, moderated forums where people come together with the goal of finding a shared direction to take based on our values.

Participants in this session will experience a National Issues Forum, learn the principles of deliberative dialogue and receive training in the NIFI approach of how to convene a forum and build skills as a forum moderator.

The event is offered as part of Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC): Models for Change, an initiative of ALA and NCDD that seeks to strengthen libraries’ role as core community leaders and agents of change. This workshop is the culminating session of a learning series for academic libraries. Workshop participants must view three pre-recorded, 90-minute webinars before the Feb. 9 in-person gathering.

LTC: Models for Change is made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant number RE-40-16-0137-16.