Main Library open with Limited Services Christmas Day, Thursday, Dec. 25. To-Go Meals will be available. 

This fall, the Friends of the Fletcher Free Library—together with Champlain College and the University of Vermont—invites the community to two Civic Reads events. 

Civic Reads invites the community into meaningful conversations about the issues shaping our shared future. Each event is centered on a timely book and explores what it takes to sustain a healthy democracy and effective government. 
 
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Abundance

Actualizing Abundance: Embracing Opportunity Within Our Challenges

(In partnership with Champlain College)

Thursday, October 16, 5:30 PM at the Fletcher Free Library

In a moment where much of our world feels full of uncertainty and chaos, we have the chance to uncover unique and powerful opportunities. Join us for an exploratory panel conversation on how in these challenging times we can begin to meaningfully move towards the tomorrow we want to live in today. We'll talk with three individuals who are seizing the opportunities in this moment to unlock innovation within traditionally rigid industries: education, energy, and food systems. 

Panelists: Chad Farrell, Founder and co-CEO at Encore Renewable Energy; Dr. Rachael Floreani, Associate Professor of Engineering, Materials Science and Manufacturing at the University of Vermont, Founder and CEO of Burlington Bio; Alex Hernandez, President Champlain College. 

Moderator: Marguerite Dibble, Founder, GameTheory

Register here!

 

This event offers an opportunity to engage ahead of co-author Derek Thompson’s keynote at the Vermont Business Roundtable Breakfast (learn more at https://vtroundtable.org/)

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Autocracy

Autocracy, Inc. Book Group Discussion

(In partnership with UVM Political Science Department)

Tuesday, November 4, 5:30 PM at Fletcher Free Library

Grounded in Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World by Anne Applebaum, this discussion—facilitated by UVM professors Ellen Andersen, Peter VonDoepp and Alex Zakaras—unpacks how authoritarian leaders are reshaping global politics and what it means for democracy at home. 

Register here! 

These Civic Reads events center on the key challenge of our time: how do we ensure democracy not only survives, but works for all of us—resisting corruption while delivering the progress communities need? 
Copies of both books are available now at Fletcher Free Library in print, e-book, and audiobook formats. Join us to read, reflect, and imagine Burlington’s future together.