Talk of the Towns 9/10/25: How Libraries Save Communities– a conversation with R. David Lankes

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves
Production support from Joel Mann and from College of the Atlantic
Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording.

Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities

This month:
What is the history of public libraries in the US?
What is the mission of community libraries?
What is included in “new librarianship”?
What does “new librarianship” imply for library staff and boards of directors?
How might local libraries shift from serving their communities to “saving” them?
How might local libraries make use of and help their members make use of Artificial Intelligence?

Guest/s:
R. David Lankes, author of New Librarianship Field Guide and Triptych: Death, AI and Librarianship.

FMI:
davidlankes.org

About the hosts:

Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals.

Liz Graves joined Talk of the Towns as co-producer and co-host in July 2022, having long admired public affairs programming on WERU and dreamed of getting involved in community radio. She works as the Town Clerk for the Town of Bar Harbor, and is a former editor of the Mount Desert Islander weekly newspaper. Liz grew up in California and came to Maine as a schooner sailor.