A Library’s ‘Reading Railroad’ Pulls Ahead.
An innovative program from Dayton's metro library shows new ways to address the community's problems and its own.
Town: Ohio
40 posts
Plastic monster launched into Lake Erie to boost awareness of microplastics, pollution
This story was republished from thelandcle.org This story delights us at Our Towns as an example that pulls together several of our pet passions: citizen engagement, local volunteer participation, education…
Sustainability: Suddenly the action is local.
Ten years ago, we were searching for examples of local-level sustainability efforts. Now they are everywhere.
Libraries in the Age of Book Bans
Across the country, libraries are coming under political pressure. Here is how they are upholding their role as anchors for their communities, 'Open to All.'
Made-in-Ohio solar panels benefit from federal incentives, supply chain politics
About two decades after cadmium telluride solar panels were commercialized in Ohio, the maturing technology is finding momentum thanks in part to its domestic manufacturing and supply chain.
How a Foundation Transforms the Well-Being of Residents
Our Towns' Ben Speggen talks with the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation team to discuss how the Foundation is empowering community development, has transformed a former grocery store into an innovative hub for nonprofits, and more.
What Midwest Industrial Communities can Teach about Managing Economic Change
With a great convergence on both sides of the Atlantic around the urgent need to diminish geographic economic disparities and opportunity gaps — particularly those between thriving global city regions and struggling communities in industrial heartlands – there are growing efforts to learn from each other.
Inside Our Towns: John Kropf
John Kropf discusses his latest book, 'Color Capital of the World: Growing Up with the Legacy of a Crayon Company', which explores Sandusky, Ohio's innovative industrial heritage and his family's role in it.
Cleveland Pilot Project Provides Rooftop Solar for Low-Income Residents
Data from the project will document savings and could help get more funding for solar energy in neighborhoods that have historically been left behind.
How One Small Ohio Town Practices Democracy
Small is big in Mount Blanchard, Ohio. The town approached change in two ways, and Deborah Fallows reports on the impact she and her husband, James, saw during their travels there.
‘To Arrive Where We Started and Know the Place for the First Time’
The America that Americans Don't Know About, and Why That Matters
An Outsider Works with Insiders: Examples from Akron and Cleveland
Mac Love, who has spent much of his life outside Ohio, uses new technologies to bring community residents and college students together. That collaborative approach is now helping citizens’ voices be heard and is driving meaningful change in their neighborhoods.
Story Maps are at the Center of Community Collaboration in Kent, Ohio
New digital tools give communities innovative and engaging ways to tell their own stories. In Kent, Ohio, a community-wide collaboration among Kent State University, Main Street Kent, and the Kent Historical Society & Museum uses story maps to teach residents about the town's rich history.
Why Story Maps Matter
People understand the world through stories. People absorb their stories in ever-expanding ways. Here is a preview of a powerful, emerging form of digital story-telling, which we’ll be using frequently in this space.
Geo-Journalism Illustrates & Expands the Story
An interactive map of the Columbus, Ohio Library system illustrates the power of maps in reporting.
How Libraries Are Leading the Way to Digital Equity
This is a report about how that drama is playing out in one sizable American city, and what its lessons indicate for the country as a whole.