Citizens feel marginalized and voiceless in today’s political climate. Governments at both the local and national level are paralyzed by competing interests. The library provides a neutral environment for citizens to come together to discuss differing viewpoints in a spirit of respect and discovery. Forum @ The Library in a previous iteration successfully brought speakers and panels to the library for years, providing information and a question and answer format for local issues. After a four-year hiatus, we saw an opportunity to reinvent the Forum in an interactive format, using a combination of deliberative dialogue and World Café formats.

Key elements defining the success of the Forum include the citizen planning committee and the partnership with a local university who trained our staff and their own students as facilitators. Community members approached the Library a year ago asking that we reinstate Forum @ The Library as a platform for the public to engage with each other. Coming out of a community vision, the Forum addresses an identified community need for engagement on compelling local issues. The Library saw an opportunity to partner with a like-minded institution (Washington State University Vancouver) and to build staff capacity as facilitators.

The library is becoming known as a hub for community conversation. Forum @ the Library is one of several interactive programs in our toolkit. Surveys indicate the Forum programs spark insight and engagement. Other branches in our library district are considering Forum @ The Library or other formats as a way to engage with their own communities. The Forum @ The Library has become a catalyst for civic and community engagement in Clark County by providing a neutral environment for citizens to come together, learn about, and discuss differing viewpoints on local issues in a spirit of respect and discovery.