Talking Climate: Resilient Communities Grantees Share their Stories

In this reverse panel, representatives from libraries that received ALA’s Resilient Communities grants will share their experiences talking about the climate crisis with their users. The 2020-2021 grant program funded “library film screenings, community dialogues and related events based on local interest” at libraries across the US. Panel members include Shannon Bovis (Gwinnett County Public Library), Bonnie Brzozowski (Corvallis-Benton County Public Library), Betsy Evans (Sul Ross State University), Neyda Gilman (Binghamton University Libraries), Julia Kress (Rice University) and Megan Zimmerman (Alexandria Library). Kacper Jarecki (Queens Public Library) will moderate on behalf of the Sustainability Round Table’s Education & Programming Committee. To open the session, we will follow the practice established by Resilient Communities organizers and lead participants through a brief grounding exercise. Then, the moderator will introduce the idea of the “triple bottom line” of sustainability (social equity, economic feasibility, and environmental responsibility) and each panelist will answer the following questions:

• Briefly describe why your library chose to participate in the Resilient Communities program.


• In your opinion, what was the greatest benefit to your patrons that came from participating?


• What's an example of a successful program your library offered? What made it such a success?


• What's an example of a program that didn't go as well? What would you do differently if you were doing it again?


• What ongoing or future plans does your library have for programming around the resilient communities theme?

The bulk of the session, though, will be dedicated to answering questions from you, members of the audience. We hope to have a vibrant dialog about the Resilient Communities programming guide (https://www.ala.org/tools/sites/ala.org.tools/files/content/ResComm_ProgGuide%20FINAL100820.pdf) and how it can be implemented at your diverse libraries for your even more diverse users.