Deborah Fallows, Author at Our Towns

Libraries

Public Libraries’ Novel Response to a Novel Virus

Deborah Fallows
March 31, 2020

America’s public libraries have led the ranks of “second responders,” stepping up for their communities in times of natural or manmade disasters, like hurricanes, floods, shootings, fires, and big downturns…

A "fly-brary," courtesy of the Deschutes Public Library, at the Redmond, Oregon, airport.

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Libraries

Looking at Libraries

Deborah Fallows
December 26, 2019

Continuing the photo essay about public libraries, which showed many examples of children’s rooms and adult spaces, this collection shows some of the multitude of activities happening at public libraries. It also…

The children’s space in the Brownsville Public Library.

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Libraries

A Portrait of Public Libraries

Deborah Fallows
December 23, 2019

Since Jim Fallows and I began traveling the country for American Futures and Our Towns nearly seven years ago, there has been one beat that began as a surprise to me and grew into…

The Tides Institute & Museum in Eastport Maine (left) and other historic buildings along Water Street, (Courtesy of the Tides Institute & Museum of Art)

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Arts

How Artists Build the Spirit of a Town

Deborah Fallows
December 16, 2019

During our travels to towns around the U.S., Jim Fallows and I have come across several artist-in-residence programs, for example in Ajo, Arizona; Eastport, Maine; and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The village of Ajo near the Organ Pipe cactus national monument.

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Civic Life

Ajo, Arizona, is the story of a better America

Deborah Fallows
December 6, 2019

Take a walk through the oasis of green grass and palm trees in the central plaza of the tiny Sonoran Desert town of Ajo in southwest Arizona. You’re likely to run into…

Artist Richelle Gribble with her cotton spider web on kozo washi paper, created during her artist-in-residency in Japan. (Naoki Isoda / Awagami Factory)

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Arts

An Artist-in-Residence Creates a Sense of Place

Deborah Fallows
December 5, 2019

We’ve seen artist-in-residence programs in a number of the towns we’ve visited. The first was in Eastport, Maine, where we ran into Richelle Gribble, a young artist based in Los Angeles, whom I…

Hand holding camera lens that is magnifying a city.

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Arts

Photos Can Trigger Change in a Town

Deborah Fallows
November 22, 2019

In 2008, National Geographic photographer Jodi Cobb and photographer and former Second Lady, Tipper Gore, talked about the role of photography at the then Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The…

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Economic Development

The Modern Women of Rural America

Deborah Fallows
November 13, 2019

Along the way of our reporting for American Futures and Our Towns, I ran into the stories of some remarkable women—living and dead. Eliza Tibbets, who planted the first navel oranges in California; Isabella Greenway,…

City of Asylum houses on Sampsonia Way in Pittsburgh

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Language

A River of Words in Pittsburgh

Deborah Fallows
October 21, 2019

As we've traveled around the country with our American Futures and Our Towns projects since 2013, my husband, Jim, and I have evolved from being skeptics to evangelists about the impact of public arts on communities.

The Nashville Public Library (Wangkun Jia / Shutterstock)

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Libraries

A Big Little Idea From Nashville

Deborah Fallows
September 30, 2019

During our travels visiting towns and cities across the country for American Futures and now Our Towns, Jim Fallows (my husband) and I have encountered story after story of short, sweet initiatives…

The central library of the Forsyth County Public Library (Deborah Fallows)

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Libraries

The Library That’s Also an Art Gallery

Deborah Fallows
September 17, 2019

A "hub of Winston-Salem in touch with the people."

Road with the words "Good Health," painted on it.

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Health & Well-Being

The Surprising Rural Health-Care Legacy of the ’60s

Deborah Fallows
September 4, 2019

Eastport Grapples with Health-Care

The Peavey Memorial Library in Eastport, Maine (Courtesy of the Tides Institute & Museum of Art)

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Libraries

The Gift of a Public Library

Deborah Fallows
August 28, 2019

A legacy that continues.

The view from our plane this week, headed to Maine (Deborah Fallows)

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Flying Down East

Deborah Fallows
August 15, 2019

Headed back to Eastport

Murals on the wall of the teen space in the Brownsville Public Library's main branch (Courtesy of Deborah Fallows)

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Libraries

A Public Library of, by, and for the People

Deborah Fallows
August 6, 2019

A "how to" on staying relevant through invention and reinvention

The new 'Arc of Dreams' sculpture over the Big Sioux River in downtown Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in July 2019, shortly before its formal unveiling. (James Fallows / The Atlantic)

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Civic Life

How a City Talks About Itself: Sioux Falls

Deborah Fallows
July 29, 2019

In June 2013, my husband, Jim, and I first landed our small, single-engine Cirrus propeller airplane at the main airport, Joe Foss Field, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It was the first…