As the pace of election season picks up and the intensity of the campaign season settles upon us all, the library aims to serve the community by providing reliable information about our democratic system of government, its levels of federal, state, and local interdependence, and the elections set to wrap up later this fall on Nov. 5. The intent of the programming and resources also promote critical thinking about our democracy’s critical infrastructure and opportunities for reflection upon the essential nature of democratic government. The annual focus on this topic, centered within our programming for adults, arises from the library’s public humanities initiative, and explores areas beyond the humanities if a relationship to the theme is evident, opening also onto library services and programming offered through other areas of the organization.
In January, we launched a book group on democracy, offered in partnership with the Catherine Project, which continued through the summer. The readings for this book group are available on a booklist available to all (even if seats are not presently available for the in-person discussions). Another highlight of the spring was a series of author talks: the conversation between Ingrid Reed and author William R. Fernekes about his biography of U.S. Senator Clifford Case; the author presentation by Sam Daley-Harris about his book “Reclaiming our Democracy;” and the conversation between John Farmer and Elizabeth Matto about her book, “To Keep the Republic.”
Our programming efforts around the topic of democracy continue into the fall with further public discussions, author talks, book discussions, and a new special project. Hyacinth Miller continues the library’s partnership with the Morven Museum & Garden on the “So You Think You Know Civics?” series (sponsored by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities) with a public discussion on the notion of civic participation, the third out of five lectures or presentations in the series, on Sept. 25. And on Sept. 26 author Ismar Volić, joined in conversation by Sam Wang, presents his new book “Making Democracy Count,” bringing his expertise in mathematics to bear upon the complexities of our electoral system. Finally, the Community Newsroom represents a continuation of the 2023 Public Humanities Forum, which treated the interdependence of democracy and journalism. This new project for the fall provides a space where established and aspiring journalists alike can interact with community-based journalists to develop their professional experience, grow their networks, and benefit from presentations by special guests. Meetings will be held monthly on the first Thursday of the month.
Further programs related to the theme can be tracked on the library’s public humanities webpage or by filtering the library’s events calendar with the “DEM” tag. Library staff have also developed resources in association with this topic, including resource guides on “Democracy in Crisis” and the 2024 election, along with a booklist on voting and elections. In these and other ways the library is continuing its focus on democracy through this national election year and there are sure to be further developments to treat before we reach the end of the electoral process.
Photo credit: Joseph Chan on Unsplash.