Next Tuesday, Tulare County Library’s Visalia branch will host its first Socrates Café to explore the question “What is Friendship”. This enduring question has taken on new relevance in light of our increased mobility, Facebook, FWB and other societal, technological and cultural changes over the past 20 years.
The philosophy and structure of these discussions appear to be a lot like what I’ve tried to articulate about libraries as hubs of civic discourse. Tulare librarian Judith Wood beautifully summed up the key precept in a few words:
listen really hard, and with an open mind
Congrats to Judith and Tulare County Library for offering this forum to the public, and best wishes for an engaging discussion on July 27th!
Photo by Steve R. Fujimoto
More info on the Socrates Café concept here and here.
Thanks for the mention. We had a great turnout. 47 people showed up to discuss friendship, people of all ages.
Glad to hear it, Jeff — though not surprised. You folks are doing great stuff at Tulare. I plan to reach out to Judy later in August to ask for some pointers on creating programs like this one.