Town Hall on the Critical Role of Libraries
UPCOMING ULC EVENT
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The library's role in communities has become vastly different in the 21st century than originally conceived. Libraries serve as a public commons and a social innovator. They support digital literacy, food access, entrepreneurship and inclusion, and can serve as a policy lever to promote economic mobility. Libraries are essential to equity goals and the civic health of democracy in the United States. However, community members and stakeholders such as government leaders do not always know the extent of the work that libraries do and how they serve social and policy goals.
Cyndee Landrum of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and Karl Dean, Former Mayor of Nashville and ULC’s Immediate Past Board Chair, will join ULC President and CEO Brooks Rainwater for this conversation about the critical and evolving role of the library. This event is targeted to both libraries and local government leaders and will highlight what these shifts mean for the field itself, strategies for communicating this to stakeholders and the local community and how the library connects with local policy goals.
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services grant LG-251100-OLS-22.
QUESTIONS? Contact [email protected] for help with this event.
Brooks Rainwater, President and CEO, Urban Libraries Council
Brooks serves as President and CEO of the Urban Libraries Council, an outcomes-driven research and innovations network of more than 160 leading North American public libraries. Under his leadership, ULC champions the future of public libraries by engaging and uplifting members, focusing intently on equity and inclusion and leading on core policy issues that drive our communities forward. Throughout his career, Brooks has worked to advance urban policies that expand local democracy and provide funding for local programs related to economic opportunity, entrepreneurship, infrastructure and sustainability. Prior to joining ULC in July 2022, Brooks served as Senior Executive & Director, the Center for City Solutions at the National League of Cities where he drove the organization’s research agenda and oversaw technical assistance efforts and leadership education. Brooks holds a Master of Public Administration from The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Cyndee Landrum, Deputy Director for Library Services, Institute of Museum and Library Services
Cyndee Landrum was appointed as the Deputy Director of the Office of Library Services in June 2019. In her current role she collaborates with IMLS's senior leadership to support agency priorities, policy, and partnerships, and provide leadership and direction for the library grant programs.
Landrum oversees the agency's largest program, Grants to States, which is the primary source of federal funding for library services in the United States, and the agency's discretionary grant programs, including National Leadership Grants for Libraries, the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian program, Native American and Native Hawaiian Library Services, and the newest library grant initiative, Accelerating Promising Practices for Small Libraries.
Over a professional career of more than 20 years, Landrum has served in public libraries across the country. Prior to her IMLS appointment, she served as CEO-director of the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library in Indiana. She also served as assistant director for public services at Oak Park Library in Illinois, assistant director of Mt. Lebanon Public Library in Pittsburgh, and held various positions at the Glendale Public Library in Arizona. She has been active in local, state, and national professional associations including serving as president of the Arizona Library Association. Landrum also has volunteered on local nonprofit and municipal boards, including the Evansville Promise Zone Governance Advisory Board.
Landrum holds a bachelor’s degree in linguistics from Northwestern University, a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Southern Mississippi, and is a doctoral candidate in the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons University.
Karl Dean, Former Mayor, Nashville-Davidson County; Immediate Past Board Chair, Urban Libraries Council
Karl Dean served from 2007 to 2015 as the sixth mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Karl first held public office when he was elected as Nashville’s Public Defender in 1990, a post he was reelected to in 1994 and 1998. He served as Metro Law Director from 1999 to January 2007, when he resigned to run for the office of mayor. Since leaving office in September 2015, Karl has taught at Belmont University and Boston University (2016). He is a graduate of Columbia University and Vanderbilt Law School.