As the Community Powered Project Coordinators (CPPCs) were approaching the end of their year in their respective communities, they were focused on activating the community. Activating the community is an essential step to ensuring that the foundation that was built is continued to be built upon. In some communities, that means offering technology training to library staff, connecting like-minded community members with one another, sharing the project back to the community, or identifying passionate folks who want to carry the program forward.

In Appleton, Rachel collaborated with Appleton Public Library and Fox Valley Literacy to host a story circle with Fox Valley Literacy students. Fox Valley Literacy does adult one-to-one teaching to help community members, especially immigrants and refugees, learn English. The story circle was an opportunity for Fox Valley Literacy students to come together and share about their experiences while also practicing English. The participants were immigrants and refugees from Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Iran. Specifically, Rachel invited participants to share stories about food as they ate arepas from a local restaurant. A friendly argument started up about whether the arepa was the national dish of Colombia or Venezuela! By the end of the event, the participants were talking like old friends and exchanging information to keep in touch.

In Spooner, Emily co-hosted a Veteran History Event with the dual purpose of sharing the Veteran oral histories that were recorded and connecting the library with Luke Sprague, the Oral Historian at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. During the event, Luke shared about the museum, the oral history collection, and highlighted portions of the stories that were collected at the Washburn County Fair. To explore the virtual exhibit and listen to each Veteran’s story, click this link or the photo below.

Finally, in Racine, Anthony hosted a series of events to collect residents’ “Meaningful Locations” around Racine. One of the key elements of Anthony’s project was creating an asset map for the LGBTQIA+ community in Racine that highlighted resources already present in their community. Anthony worked closely with the LGBT Center of Southeast Wisconsin and selected community members to help build out the map.

To activate the map in the community, Anthony invited community members to share photos and stories about their Meaningful Locations in Racine so they could add them to the asset map. Anthony also built two walking tours of downtown Racine that showcased LGBTQIA+ businesses, resources, and individuals. On May 23, Anthony invited folks to take the walking tours of downtown Racine and see a showcase of their Meaningful Locations at Racine Public Library.

Activating the community is key to getting community members engaged not only in these community projects but also in their larger communities. By inviting their participation through community events, even more people get to hear the stories of their community and connect to each other.