MCLS, in partnership with the Library of Michigan and as the culminating event of the three-year Michigan Libraries Engage project, was pleased to host a Community Engagement Summit on September 27, 2018 from 8:30am-4pm Eastern.The Summit was held at the East Lansing Marriott at University Place 
. All registrations included continental breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack break. Registration was free for those who had attended a Michigan Harwood lab/cohort, and highly subsidized for those in Michigan who had not attended a lab or cohort, but were interested in learning more.
Richard C. Harwood, President and Founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation , was the keynote presenter. The day included other national leaders in community engagement, including Mary Davis Fournier of the American Library Association and Courtney Breese of the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation , as well as a panel of directors of local, Michigan libraries who are making great strides in engaging their own communities.
8:30 - 9:30 Registration & continental breakfast
9:30 Welcome & introduction
9:45 Libraries & Engagement: Rich Harwood, The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation
11:00 Break
11:15 Panel discussion, MI libraries engaging their communities
12:15 Lunch (provided)
1:15 Community Mapping: Cindy Fesemyer, Director, Columbus (WI) Public Library
2:15 Break
2:30 National community engagement Q&A with Mary Davis Fournier of ALA and Courtney Breese of NCDD
3:30 Reflection on next steps & wrap-up
4:00 Adjournment
Rich Harwood, our keynote speaker, is founder and president of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation , a nonpartisan, independent nonprofit that teaches, coaches, and inspires people and organizations to solve pressing problems and change how communities work together. Under his leadership, the Institute’s tools and approaches for deepening impact and change have spread to thousands of communities in the U.S. and nearly 40 countries, and through partnerships with some of the world’s largest nonprofits including United Way Worldwide, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the American Library Association, and AARP. Read full bio>>
Mary Davis Fournier is Deputy Director of the ALA Public Programs Office. She specializes in institutional partnerships, new project development, and community program support for public, school and academic libraries. Prior to ALA, Mary worked in neighborhood development, as Program Director at the Near South Planning Board (Chicago), and higher education as Programming Associate at Miami-Dade College’s Miami Book Fair International (Florida). Mary will present, along with Courtney Breese, on national community engagement methods and efforts. Read full bio>>
Courtney Breese is the Managing Director of the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD), a network of innovators who bring people together across divides to discuss, decide, and take action together effectively on today’s toughest issues. Courtney directs NCDD’s network programming, including its webinars and events. She also leads several on-going projects, including the Libraries Transforming Communities: Models for Change initiative in partnership with the American Library Association. Courtney will present, along with Mary Davis Fournier, on national community engagement. Read full bio>>
Cindy Fesemyer is the Director of Columbus Public Library in Columbus, Wisconsin. She oversees the day-to-day happenings at the beautiful and historic Carnegie library, while keeping an eye on the big picture and the library's role in the community. Cindy teaches courses entitled “Engaged Partnerships” and "Creating an Engaged Library” for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s iSchool. Additionally, she serves as a Library Trustee for the Madison Public Library. Cindy sits on advisory councils for the ALA Libraries Transforming Communities: Models for Change program and the Philadelphia Free Library’s IMLS Award for Community-Centered Librarianship. Cindy will lead us through an interactive Community Mapping exercise. Read full bio>>
Visit the speaker biography page to read full bios of our presenters, including bios of the panel of Michigan librarians who are making great strides in engaging their communities.
This project was supported, in part, by the Library of Michigan with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
