“Let’s Talk About It!” – Community Conversations in a Big Red Box.

The Colorado State Library is delighted to announce the roll out of a new resource that helps library staff from rural libraries do what they do better.

The Let’s talk about it! : CSL Big Red Resource Kits program was created to help public library staff within the state of Colorado better understand and serve traditionally under-served populations and to give staff the tools needed to host and facilitate critical community conversations, mending fences within their communities. We hope that using the Let’s talk about it! : CSL Big Red Resource Kits will help establish the library as a place for civil dialog in our communities.

These Resource Kits are a way to authentically engage with members of your community and generate public knowledge that can then be used to

• inform decision-making of all kinds,
• hone in on people’s concerns, aspirations, and thought processes about a given issue in relation to your community,
• inform how you engage the community by welcoming new people and opening the door to new relationships. This creates the opportunity for new partners and coalitions.

Each kit is intended to serve three purposes:

• Provide information and materials specifically selected to be used by the under-served population.
• Educate those who are not members of or accustomed to working with the under-served population.
• Help library staff host programs and community conversations on issues regarding the identified under-served population.

The Let’s talk about it! : CSL Big Red Resource Kits are available to library staff all over Colorado with a special focus on small and rural libraries.

We currently have one Let’s talk about it”  kit available for loan – the kit containing information, activities and resources to help library staff work more effectively with people experiencing homelessness in their communities.  Our website describing the program and kits available can be found at https://cslkits.cvlsites.org/.  We will be adding more kits to the Let’s Talk About It” series over the coming months – so please check the current kit out, and check back in with the site regularly to see the latest availability.