Libraries are so much more than books: they are mirrors into the communities they serve. Come explore the many ways the contemporary library serves and builds its community.

We’ll meet weekly onsite at each one of the nine libraries which make up the Community Libraries of Providence. You’ll get an insider view of each unique library, explore its history and contemporary challenges, and learn more about the people and needs of Wanskuck, Smith Hill, Mt. Pleasant, South Providence, Washington Park, Elmwood, Fox Point, Olneyville and the Summit/Mt. Hope neighborhoods.

Format: Each week the class will take place at a different member library. We’ll receive a tour and overview of that library from the library manager. One or two class members will facilitate a discussion about some aspect of libraries or about the neighborhoods that particular library serves. The course will start and end at Rochambeau Library and move around the city to the other eight libraries. In the last class, we will process together all that we’ve learned.

Resources/Expenses: Article on the history of Providence libraries by Patricia Raub will be distributed to participants. No expenses anticipated.