American Conversations: Celebrating Poems in Rural Communities
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Partnering Organizations

The Maine Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, is the programming arm of the Maine Humanities Council. The MHC, a statewide non-profit organization, uses the humanities—literature, history, philosophy, and culture—as a tool for positive change in Maine communities. Our programs and grants encourage critical thinking and conversations across social, economic, and cultural boundaries.

The Lewiston 21st Century Program is an afterschool and summer program run through the Lewiston Public Schools, which serves approximately 750 children each year at six Lewiston schools. The program is funded through federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers funding. The program includes homework help, academic enrichment (including cooking, dance, robotics, theater, and more!), and leadership development for Lewiston students in grades K-12.

Venues

Founded in 1885, Norway Memorial Library has a long tradition of connecting people with ideas, cultural experiences, programs, services and information. It is a place of community collaboration where people of all ages discover and build connections for a lifetime of reading and learning. In 2018 it celebrates 80 years at its Main Street location where it serves Norway and the surrounding towns of western Maine’s Oxford Hills region.

Established in 1902, the Lewiston Public Library is an important public repository of knowledge and culture and serves as a focal point for education, information, and community in Lewiston, Maine. It provides a wide range of needed information services to users of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds and, in so doing, remains both a significant institutional symbol and a core working component of our democratic society.

The mission of the Maine Correctional Women’s Center is to reduce recidivism and increase accountability amongst female offenders by using a variety of evidence based and gender informed practices. They recognize the effect trauma has on the female’s pathways to incarceration and because of that, the Department offers educational and vocational opportunities that address individual needs and encourage growth to females during their incarceration.

The Southern Maine Women’s Re-entry Center is designed to give women the skills and experience they need to successfully live as positive citizens and employees after they transition from state correctional facilities into their home communities.