Oakland Public Library’s "Don’t Fall for Fake News" series gets beyond what’s real and what’s fake. Through interactive workshops, library staff engage participants in discussion about media ownership, bias, misinformation and quality news so patrons can reflect on their role as media consumers and advocate for quality journalism.

While many resource guides exist, developing news literacy is a hands-on process. Library staff developed this interactive workshop to open a deeper dialogue with our community about what we’re seeing and what we can do about it. This opened a deeper dialogue with colleagues and with local teachers as well. So far, 75 percent of participants have been school librarians, parents and teachers looking for ways to hold this conversation with their communities.

This series has helped us deepen professional development and intra-library collaborations. We recently trained 13 library staff and have been invited to deliver the workshop on campus at two local colleges. We have also joined a regional news literacy grant initiative and began planning adaptations for special audiences including teens, adult literacy students and English-learners. The need is clear and the possibility for meaningful info lit in the public library is inspiring.