Cairns & Beacons: If you are interested in an easy, high-quality, low-cost programming series – this is it. This can be a turnkey programming series with topical presentations and discussions that you can provide for your patrons with minimal work and minimal cost. None of us have enough time or money to do all the awesome ideas we have for programming; however, technology allows us to collaborate in ways that will provide better programming with a smaller strain on our finite resources. All you will need is a room that can host a virtual meeting and a staff member to run it. We will have grant money to help with marketing and equipment, if necessary. Cairns & Beacons is an eight-part lecture/discussion series that examines several complex topics that surfaced during covid and its aftermath and that are now being explored in the public arena, including reimagining the economy, what’s ahead for both political parties, and whether today’s Supreme Court is different from or like past Courts. The series takes no political position. Our goal is to provide information fairly --identifying differing points of view without bias. Presenters will appear via Zoom to a live audience gathered at a library. Multiple libraries can have their own groups experiencing and *interacting* with the presenter. This actually works. Our Shifting Landscapes series tested this, and we had groups from 7 to 40+ people show up live for virtual presentations. A week later, discussion sessions will bring the groups together again to discuss the topic of the presentation in a novel way. The discussions will begin with artwork (a poem, a painting, a short play…) related to the presentation topic. The goal is to give participants a fresh perspective and a common starting point to root the discussion. Carins & Beacons runs from September 25th through March 18th. I’m happy to provide more details if you are interested. We have one grant application into Michigan Humanitites and will be sending another one into Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC). We are looking to have commitments from a few participating libraries before we submit the MACC grant. If you’re interested, let me know soon. Thomas Trahey