Creating a kinder and better Portland

Public libraries are increasingly being recognized and encouraged to employ to full advantage their ability to offer safe spaces for civil discourse and civic engagement.  To that end, this spring PPL will begin a two year civility and civic engagement initiative that will include public forums addressing issues of broad community interest, drop in opportunities at the Library and a series of smaller community conversations to discuss the aspirations that people have for our City.  The two year effort is funded through a generous grant ($48,000) by the Emanuel & Pauline A. Lerner Foundation of Portland. We are very grateful for their faith in PPL.

As we begin implementing aspects of the project, our Business & Government Team will provide more details and ways that citizens can participate.

In the context of visions for Portland, we are supportive of Mayor Brennan’s effort to “create a kinder community that's inclusive, diverse and has a role for every resident to play.”  

 

One spot culture!

Portland Public Library is the city's cultural center serving 666,000 visitors annually at four locations through a unique combination of print, media and digital resources complemented by robust internet access, lectures, classes, exhibits, programs and performances for all ages.

Yesterday and today are prime examples of what that statement means.

Last night approximately 200 people attended Maine Poet Laureate Wes McNair’s launch of his memoir The Words I Chose: A memoir of family and poetry at a special Brown Bag Lecture in the Rines Auditorium.  Tonight’s First Friday Art Walk looks to repeat the December Friday Art Walk, which welcomed over 1,000 people to see the Edward Gorey exhibit Elegant Enigmas and hear electronica music (Algorithm) and dance (Portland Ballet), both inspired by Gorey’s art work. Add to those events the annual Four Freedoms poster project by King Middle School students and well, you get the picture.  

At PPL this evening, February 1st at 6:30 PM, you can hear Tom Allen, our former congressman, launch his new book Dangerous Convictions: What’s Really Wrong With the US Congress, see the Prints: Breaking Boundaries exhibit and get a dose of Shakespeare in our Atrium at 6:00 PM through the interpretation of the Naked Shakespeare troupe.  (Check out our website for more information!)

Nothing quite like it so please come by for a taste of it all.