Harney County Library Awarded Oregon Humanities Grant for Speaker Series

This February, Oregon Humanities awarded up to $25,000 in funding to enable rural and rural-serving Oregon libraries to create and host events in their own communities that reflect the 2024 theme, Fear and Belonging. A staff member (Isabelle!) at the Harney County Library applied for, and was awarded, $2,400 to host a series of four events titled “Finding Common Ground Speaker Series.”

The first event is on March 5, 2024 at 6-7 pm and will be a presentation by our own local High Desert Partnership, a national leader and model in the field of collaborative work.

The following three events will take place in early May, July and September. These will feature:

• Emma Ronai-Durning from Rural Organizing Project, who will talk about ROP’s work giving a voice to underrepresented groups in rural Oregon.
• U of O Professor Peter Walker, with a presentation on different approaches to collaborative natural resource management in the Western US and other parts of the world.
• Native American author and activist Jacqueline Keeler, who will present an Indigenous perspective on centering Native voices in our approach to natural resource management and other community issues.

Presenters will also take questions from the audience in a setting fostering dialogue and understanding, as we thrive to find common ground to move our communities into a positive future. And to set the tone, yummy refreshments will be served!