Libraries and Community Partners Invited to Host Currents Program
Louisiana public libraries and community partners are invited to apply to host LEH’s popular reading and discussion series, Currents, which includes “Who Gets to Vote? Conversations on Voting Rights in America” and “Witness to Change: Conversations on Coastal Impacts,” beginning August 22, 2022. Six grants to host the series are available, and applications will remain open through October 14, 2022, with programs to take place January through April of next year.
At each Currents program participants engage in discussions led by scholar facilitators who encourage critical thinking about the subjects discussed. Host sites will select either “Who Gets to Vote?” or “Witness to Change.”
“Who Gets to Vote?” is intended to engage members of the general public in conversations on the history of voting—and efforts to suppress the vote—in the United States. Learn more about the topics and books included here.
“Witness to Change” incorporates history, memoir, and fiction and is intended to engage members of the general public in conversations on the beauty of and challenges faced by coastal communities. Learn more about the topics and books included here.
Site Selection and Program Details
The LEH’s Division of Public Programs staff will choose six geographically diverse sites to participate in the program. Each site will choose four books in the series and host four discussion programs. A $2,400 subaward from the LEH will cover site coordination, facilitator honoraria, book purchases, and program publicity.
Using reading and discussion guides developed by humanities scholars and targeting up to 20 participants per session, communities will engage in thoughtful dialogue around book themes and consider the intersections between history and the present. All sessions will be facilitated by humanities scholars.
Learn more about applying here.
Contact LEH Public Programs Coordinator Clare Shelburne at [email protected] or 504-356-0509 for more information.