Media contact:
Beth Dempsey, 248.349.7810 or beth@bethdempsey.com
October 29, 2007 (CHICAGO) -- Urban Libraries Council (ULC) President Mart�n G�mez and Denver City Council Member Rick Garcia will speak on how local governments and public libraries can partner to create more successful communities at a conference in Madrid, November 15. Mr. G�mez and Mr. Garcia were invited by the Spanish Ministry of Culture, which was inspired by ULC's mission of "strengthening the public library as an essential part of urban life."
�This is an important step as we build our global network of urban libraries, taking our presence to a worldwide stage,� said Mr. G�mez. �We want to expand our members� access to the broadest possible network of best practices and fresh ideas. Our goal is to ensure our members have the tools that will allow them to respond quickly and effectively to change. That�s what our members tell us they value most about ULC.�
The Madrid conference (entitled: �El Segundo Encuentro Bibiliotecas y Municipio: Contruyendo un servicio p�blico de calidad y accesible: la biblioteca municipal�) is similar to ULC�s popular Partners for Successful Cities Conference, gathering local government officials and public librarians to develop the library as a tool for addressing pressing urban issues. Mr. G�mez and Mr. Garcia will discuss American models of successful collaboration, many of which are discussed in ULC�s Making Cities Stronger publication. They will also include examples from Mr. Garcia�s work in Denver, where he is known for his partnership with neighborhood organizations, including libraries, to develop more effective community outreach.
�It takes political leadership, community commitment and private sector support to make a library a centerpiece for urban renewal, and I�m eager to share Denver�s stories of how we�ve made that happen,� said Mr. Garcia.
Mr. Garcia is a leading library advocate in Denver, strongly supporting Denver Public Library�s (DPL) evolving library presence -- one that is responsive to demographic shifts and emerging community needs. Many Denver libraries model innovative, patron-driven programming that engages mono-lingual, bilingual, younger and older users. Mr. Garcia also supports the use of library branch building and renovation in communities that need economic development stimulation. He�s currently working to turn the relocation of a 100-year-old community hospital in his council district into an opportunity for a new branch library location, reaching an underserved area of Denver.
The ULC�s larger initiative to build a worldwide network of urban libraries that shares and learns about success stories such as Denver�s includes international study tours and symposia on global library issues. The group will sponsor a tour of European libraries in November 2008, culminating in a joint conference in Copenhagen with Dutch and Australian librarians. ULC is also building alliances with international library associations, including the burgeoning Canadian Urban Libraries Council.
For more information about the ULC, visit www.urbanlibraries.org. For more information about Rick Garcia, visit www.denvergov.org/rickgarcia.
About the Urban Libraries Council
For more than 30 years the Urban Libraries Council (ULC) has worked to strengthen public libraries as an essential part of urban life. A membership organization of North America�s premier public library systems and the corporations that serve them, ULC serves as a forum for sharing best practices resulting from targeted research, education and forecasting. ULC�s programs are acclaimed for inspiring new organizational models that invigorate urban libraries and enrich the areas surrounding them. ULC is headquartered in Chicago. For more information, visit the group on the Web at www.urbanlibraries.org.
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