Community Collaboration--Community Conversations, Conflict, and Collaboration

With two historical PowerPoint presentations and panel discussions, Northfield citizens looked back thirty years to the early 1980's expansion of Northfield's Carnegie Public Library building. Each session began with a 20 minute PowerPoint presentation by local library historian Bruce Colwell (author of "Everlasting Influences: The Centennial History of the Northfield Carnegie Public Library 1910-2010" and "A Century of Service: the Northfield Public Library, 1898-1998), providing a historical overview of the library expansion discussions in the early 1980's. Not only was it fascinating history, but relevant and timely, as Northfield is again engaged in discussions of how to expand its public library. And, once again, a request for significant financial support from the city and taxpayers (in the form of a tax referendum) is in the midst of a national and state economic recession. These community conversations revealed much about Northfield's identity and values, and how its citizens and civic leaders view the public library's role in the town's educational, social, and economic life. The panelists shared their personal experiences from the early 1980's library expansion conversations, and the lessons learned that can inform Northfield's current expansion community conversations. Both programs addressed the question, "Why did Northfield choose to renovate and expand the original Carnegie building on the same site, rather than (as many other Minnesota towns) build a new facility on a different site?"