The New Civic Commons: How Public Libraries Can Build Social Cohesion and Promote Civic Renewal

Join us on October 28, 2024, for our virtual speaker series “The New Civic Commons: How Public Libraries Can Build Social Cohesion and Promote Civic Renewal” featuring Shamichael Hallman. You can register here: bit.ly/sprk24.

America is facing an epidemic of loneliness and isolation, with troubling effects on our mental and physical health. We live in one of the most divisive times in our history, one in which we tend to work, play, and associate only with people who think as we do. How do we create spaces for people to unite—to open our minds, understand our differences, and exchange ideas? Shamichael Hallman argues that the public library may be our best hope for bridging these divides and creating strong, inclusive communities. During the talk, he will discuss his work and his new book “Meet Me at the Library.” The book explores libraries as “sites of encounter” and seeks to demonstrate the public library’s unique role in generating opportunities for shared experience among people of all incomes and backgrounds.

Speaker Bio

Shamichael Hallman is the Director of Civic Health and Economic Opportunity with the Urban Libraries Council (TAG). In this role, he is working to create ULC’s upcoming focus on libraries as essential city and county infrastructure, including their value as physical spaces, a connector of diverse lived experiences, and a role in public safety and public health.

From 2017 – 2022, he served as the Senior Library Manager of the historic Cossitt Library (Memphis Public Libraries), tasked with overseeing the multi-million-dollar renovation of this space, which reimagined the roles that public libraries could play in their communities. During his tenure with Memphis Public Libraries, the library system was awarded the 2021 National Medal for Museum and Library Science by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and was recognized as the Nation’s Most Innovative Public Library by Smithsonian Magazine in November of 2021 – in which Shamichael’s team was prominently featured. His 2020 TEDx talk “Reimagining the Public Library to Reconnect the Community” garnered Shamichael is a founding member of Libraries as Bridges, a grassroots collective of libraries seeking to understand the role that public libraries serve in cultivating and enhancing the civic and social life of their communities. He has worked with various organizations at the local and state levels to demonstrate how public libraries can play critical roles in accelerating economic growth.

Before joining Memphis Public Libraries, Shamichael worked at the intersection of faith and technology as a minister, technologist, and organizer. He has co-organized faith-related tech events across the globe and given talks to faith-inspired technologists at companies such as Microsoft and Google. He holds an MS in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice.

Also, Shamichael was a ’23 Loeb Fellow at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. As a Loeb Fellow, he gave several guest lectures across universities throughout New England about the importance of libraries.