Workshop 

The Heart of Town: Designing for Meaningful Engagement

Libraries around the world are the heart of their communities, welcoming spaces for people to exchange ideas in creative ways. In this session, attendees will experience first-hand a model for creative library gatherings using music, art and dialogue. Hosts Peter Jørgensen of Aarhus Public Libraries and Stacie Ledden of Stacie Ledden Consulting will provide concrete methods to build confidence in convening people with differing backgrounds and opinions and share how even small actions can have a big impact in bringing strangers and neighbors together, leading to new perspectives and ideas.

Part community-building, part Q&A, this will be a fun, interactive session that will leave attendees feeling uplifted, confident, and connected with their new global community. 

Host 

Peter Jørgensen is a library facilitator working with democratic engagement at Aarhus Public Libraries, based at Gellerup Library. He develops and facilitates participatory events, talks, and debates, and collaborates with local partners to strengthen community ties and social cohesion. At NEXT Library 2023 and 2025, he coordinated the Democracy track for the conference.

Stacie Ledden is a creative strategist, storyteller, and founder of Stacie Ledden Consulting LLC. She works with purpose-driven clients worldwide to build emotional connections between organizations and their audiences through leadership development, branding and marketing, community engagement, vision and values, and strategy. She spent 15 years as the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Anythink Libraries, the public library system for Adams County, Colo., where she still contributes as a member of the Anythink Foundation board.