Category: Uncategorized

Many local governments have a problem: they know it, they ignore it, and it doesn’t go away. This problem goes by different names, like – lack of transparency, going behind our backs, taxation without representation, and others like, ?%@*&%! “Our Trustees consulted with a company before it went out to bid.” “How can they approve… Continue reading Explaining Away Complaints

The reference librarian should be at the very center of community life. Explain please. I’ll explain. It all begins with a directory of locally available services and activities offered by nonprofit organizations. The directory is really about relationships. The goal is to open up channels of communication between locally available services and activities (the nonprofits), and the… Continue reading Something for Reference Librarians

Not exactly rags to riches: but from risks to resources. Let’s try and manage communities – villages, towns, cities – by connecting dots, or as we also say, networking. Communities have departments, experienced people, and resources at their disposal – we know this – but how on earth is it all connected? How many of… Continue reading From Rags to Riches

Community development is a funny thing, because the basic definition is so general – basically, “people helping people to make things better.” The range of possible actions is extremely broad. This can lead perhaps to an overblown sense of what it is, and an overwhelming sense of how to do it. From the standpoint of local… Continue reading Community Development is Risks and Resources