Welcoming: Energizing Community Connections Forum held at Portland Public Library

Thursday, December 4th from 4:00-6:00pm in the Rines Auditorium

Portland, Maine - On December 4th, 2013 from 4:00 to 6:00pm in the Rines Auditorium, The Portland Public Library in collaboration with the Institute for Civic Leadership and the Maine Humanities Council will convene a forum entitled “Welcoming: Energizing Community Connections”  a World Café-style conversation about welcoming as a civic value and practice. We will engage all voices to explore the practical elements of creating the conditions of welcoming and will offer a reception and opportunity to form action groups following the event.


When have you felt most welcome in community spaces? How do we best cultivate welcoming public spaces? What is the connection between welcoming and civic engagement?  The theme of "welcoming" emerged from earlier forums and conversations hosted by the Choose Civility Initiative at Portland Public Library.  Over and over, people expressed a wish to know others better, to feel more welcome and more welcoming, but also expressed a sense of isolation and uncertainty about where to begin.  At the same time, research suggests that we are more likely to participate in our communities when we feel effective and connected to others.  Welcoming extends beyond friendliness to become a basis for civil society. This public event offers a chance to interact with others with the intention of building a vibrant and inclusive conversation in service to strengthening Portland as a vibrant and inclusive city.  A reception will follow the event with a networking opportunity to form action groups. 


Richard Harwood, author of “The Work of Hope” encourages public libraries to convene public conversations of this sort, to provide opportunities for us to collectively define and work toward a sense of common good. “The common good is about crossing existing fault lines, boundaries, and walls that all-too-often prevent people from coming together,” he writes. 


To extend the conversation, additional programming includes a screening of Rain in a Dry Land, a film about 2 refugee families experiences, at the Portland Public Library at 7:30pm on December 5th and on December 6th Portland Playback will feature the theme of Welcoming at their monthly interactive performance.


Learn more about Choose Civility at portlandlibrary.com