Current World Events Discussion Series for Library Staff & Community Members
The Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association invites you to an online Current World Events Discussion Series starting Saturday, October 7 from 2 to 3 p.m. E.S.T.
This series will be offered every two weeks on Saturdays from 2 to 3 p.m. EST and will be available via Zoom to library staff and their patrons.
The U.S. and the world are currently facing the challenge of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news in a way that is truly endangering the future of democracies and of humanity itself. As trusted information sources, librarians have a responsibility to confront this challenge. We need to help the public not only with distinguishing between misinformation, disinformation, and facts but also with learning the basic tools and processes of critical thinking to analyze local, national, and international events.
Whether it is climate change or immigration, the war in Ukraine or the protests in Iran, there are current world events that the public is hungry to hear discussed in a coherent, thoughtful, informative, analytical manner, rather than through sound bites or quick tidbits on the news interrupted by commercials.
Guided by PEN America's media literacy guidelines, each session of this series will focus on a particular news topic by discussing two articles from highly reputable and credible sources such as The New York Times, The Economist, and The Guardian as well as smaller news sources such as Truthout and ProPublica. Facts and events will be examined within the historical and global context in which they take place. They will also be examined from the vantage point of diversity, inclusion, and social justice. Sessions will alternate between international and national topics. Our goal is to promote global awareness and to facilitate a truly educational, fruitful, and civil discussion on a regular basis. We are also aiming to discuss creative solutions to problems.
The October 7 session will focus on the current war in the Ukraine. The articles to be discussed are attached as PDF files. If you would like to attend this session and invite your library patrons to join the discussion, please fill out the registration form below:
https://ala-events.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUvfuitqTgjH9DRoeoCdxkzXPtc7eRdkXzR#/registration
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us by going to the page below:
https://connect.ala.org/srrt/contactus