Americans for Libraries Council
Lifelong Access Libraries Institute 2006:
July 31 - August 4 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Lifelong Access Libraries Institute 2006
Creativity and Aging Resources

“Wisdom is the most positive and acceptable trait of people who live long lives. The challenge is to stimulate imaginations to combine that wisdom with activity and social engagement to make it meaningful in one’s life and in the world.” - Mary Catherine Bateson, anthropologist, author and developer of the "Active Wisdom" concept

ACTIVE WISDOM, CREATIVITY AND AGING RESOURCES:

Recommended books and resources about active wisdom, creativity and aging
The Future of Wisdom - Article by Mary Catherine Bateson

MODELS OF DIALOGUE:

"... It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces society, and indeed the whole of human nature and consciousness today. Moreover, it may turn out that such a form of free exchange of ideas and information is of fundamental relevance for transforming culture and freeing it of destructive misinformation, so that creativity can be liberated."
Physicist David Bohm

The Salon-Keeper's Companion: An Utne Reader Guide to Conducting Salons, Councils and Study Circles - Free, online guide from Utne
Study Circles Resource Center - "Helping people work together for creative community change"
National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation - "fostering a world of conversation, participation and action"
Calling the Circle: The First and Future Culture - Book by Christina Baldwin - Plus, check out "Basic Guidelines for Calling a Circle"
Physicist David Bohm's ideas "On Dialogue" - ideas from new science and new physics about the power of dialogue - overview of Bohm's dialogue concepts
Harrison Owen's "Open Space" Model
Socrates Cafe Model - "democratic communities of philosophical inquiry"
World Cafe Model - process for leading collaborative dialogue and knowledge-sharing
Future Search Model - a planning meeting model that helps people transform their capability for action very quickly
Margaret Wheatley's Turning to One Another: Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future ideas - book and article by this title
Dialogue Makers - an overview of several dialogue models - from the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University
Democratic Dialogue Network - from the United Nations Development Programme

CREATORS OF ACTIVE WISDOM DIALOGUE:

Active Wisdom Dialogues are being developed by Mary Catherine Bateson and Steven Dahlberg, with Libraries for the Future (the program division of Americans for Libraries Council) and the Hartford Public Library

Mary Catherine Bateson ... is a writer and cultural anthropologist who divides her time between New Hampshire and Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she recently completed three years as a visiting professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has written and co-authored many books and articles, lectures across the country and abroad, and is president of the Institute for Intercultural Studies in New York City. Until recently she has been the Clarence J. Robinson Professor in Anthropology and English at George Mason University, and is now professor emerita. During the past few years Mary Catherine Bateson has been particularly involved with three projects: finishing and bringing out her most recent book, Willing to Learn: Passages of Personal Discovery; wrapping up the 2004 Gregory Bateson Centennial (as well as a few loose ends from the 2001 Mead Centennial) which, even after its official period passed, continues to stimulate activity and interest; and building on the experience with Granny Voters as a means to encourage trustee voting in future electoral seasons and to empower older adults to claim a voice for the future. This project will continue to develop into a further exploration of intergenerational communication and changing ways of experiencing time and will probably lead to a book. Mary Catherine Bateson is currently writing a regular column, "Peripheral Vision" for Pink Magazine.

Steven Dahlberg ... is principal of the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination. Most recently, he was head of the Massachusetts-based Creative Education Foundation and director of its annual, international Creative Problem Solving Institute. He has 15 years of experience teaching creative thinking and problem solving, including helping two toy inventors launch a creativity consulting business. For more than nine years, he’s been exploring the intersection of creativity, aging, retirement, transitions, purpose and work. His articles have appeared in Training magazine, Knowledge Management News magazine, and Global Knowledge Review. He edits the ageing as exile? and Applied Imagination blogs. He is currently completing a graduate certificate in gerontology at the University of Connecticut.

Americans for Libraries Council / Libraries for the Future ... is a leadership group comprised of business, civic, educational, library and philanthropic leaders. As the parent organization of Libraries for the Future, a leader in library development for more than a decade, the Council has substantial expertise in developing and disseminating successful models for programming and advocacy. The Council works to generate broader and deeper participation in supporting libraries from all sectors of society.

Hartford Public Library ... seeks to promote and support literacy and learning; to provide free and open access to information and ideas; and to help people participate in our democratic society. Founded in 1774, the Library is now nearing completion of a major renovation and expansion under the leadership of Chief Librarian Louise Blalock.