Community Conversations
The Goffstown Public Library Community Conversations series is designed to help us understand issues affecting our community and provide a starting point to open up conversations. Community Conversations bring together resources, experts, and concerned community members to discuss complicated issues in a gracious, safe space.

The 2022 Community Conversations focus is Civics. We will investigate how citizens can and should work together to solve public problems. Our series of programs will include book discussions, trivia, events in partnership with the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College and the Geisel Library at Saint Anselm College, along with empowering explorations and conversations about how we the people can and should steer the ship of our democracy.
For more information, please contact Dianne Hathaway, Goffstown Public Library Director, 497-2102, dianneh@goffstownlibrary.com
Schedule of Events
For virtual events, registration is required. All virtual events will be held via Microsoft Teams and once registered, all participants will receive an email link to join the discussions.
All pre-recorded video presentations will appear on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/goffstownlibrary
FEBRUARY
ADULT
- Tuesday, 2/1/22 at 6:30pm – Evening Book Discussion – The Upswing by Robert Putnam, at the Goffstown Public Library. Please read the book before the discussion; e-audiobook is available with your library card through hoopladigital.com and print copies will be available to borrow at the Library.
- Tuesday, 2/8/22 at 7pm – Town Deliberative Session at Mountain View Middle School followed by Select Board meeting and Budget Committee meeting. Contact the Goffstown Town Clerk’s office, 603-497-8990, extension 100, for details.
- Tuesday, 2/15/22 at 7pm – How to Have Difficult Conversations with James McKim, managing partner of Organizational Ignition and president of the Manchester NAACP.
- Monday, 2/21/22 at 10am – NHIOP: Commemorating the U.S. Presidency, in partnership with the NH Institute of Politics and Saint Anselm’s Geisel Library at Saint Anselm College.
- Tuesday, 2/22/22 at 7pm – Candidate’s Night at Goffstown High School with Goffstown Lions Club. View the recording of this event at https://youtu.be/rIurjaLWRaY
TEEN
- Saturday, 2/19/22 at 11am – Civics Trivia: Federal, State, and Municipal at the Goffstown Public Library. Registration required.
KIDS
- Month of February – Share the Love – Stop by the Children’s Room to create a card, draw a picture or make a bookmark for someone in our community such as nursing home residents, community helpers or residents who receive home service from the Library.
- Saturday, 2/19/22 at 9:30am – Story Time theme is “Voting” at the Library, for families with children up through grade 5.
MARCH
ADULT
- Saturday, 3/5/22 at 11am – The Secret Sauce of Civic Life at Goffstown Historical Society with Dr. Quixada Moore-Vissing, a University of New Hampshire Carsey School of Public Policy Fellow with New Hampshire Listens. Registration required.
- Tuesday, 3/8/22 at 7am – 2022 Town and School Election, at Bartlett Elementary School or Goffstown High School. Register to vote and find out more at the Goffstown Town Clerk’s office, 603-497-8990, extension 100.
- Wednesday, 3/16/22 at 1:30pm – Afternoon Book Discussion – The Upswing by Robert Putnam, at the Goffstown Public Library. Please read the book before the discussion; e-audiobook is available with your library card through hoopladigital.com and print copies will be available to borrow at the Library.
- Monday, 3/28/22 at 6pm – The Upswing: Author Event at New Hampshire Institute of Politics with Robert Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett. Registration is required with Saint Anselm College.
TEEN
- Month of March – The Ultimate iCivics BINGO Bonanza – Pick up your BINGO board at the Goffstown Public Library.
- Saturday, 3/19/22 at 11am – Teen Book Discussion – Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone, at the Goffstown Public Library. Please read the book before the discussion; online access is available with your library card through the Libby app and print copies will be available to borrow at the Library.
KIDS
- Month of March – Community Picture Book Read for children up through grade 5. Read one or more of the preselected civics-themed picture books and complete related activities to participate in a raffle drawing at the end of the month.
- Saturday, 3/19/22 at 9:30am – Story Time theme is “Community Helpers” at the Library, for families with children up through grade 5.
Resources
- American Dialogue: The Founders and Us by Joseph Ellis (2018)
- America: Imagine a World Without Her by Dinesh D’Souza (2014)
- American Panic: A History of Who Scares Us and Why by Mark Stein (2014)
- Checks and Balances: The Three Branches of American Government by Daniel E. Brannan (2005)
- Citizen Power: A Citizen Leadership Manual Introducing the Art of No-Blame Problem Solving by Harry S.Pozycki (2020)
- Civics and Citizenship Tookkit: A Collection of Educational Resources for Immigrants U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (2019)
- Crisis of Responsibility: Our Cultural Addiction to Blame and How You Can Cure It by David L. Bahnsen (2018)
- How to be an American: A Field Guide to Citizenship by Silvia Hidalgo (2018)
- I Think You’re Wrong (but I’m listening): A Guide to Grace-Filled Political Conversations by Sarah Stewart Holland (2019)
- If We Can Keep It: How the Republic Collapsed and How it Might Be Saved by Michael Tomasky (2019)
- The Infographic Guide to the American Government: A Visual Reference for Everything You Need to Know by Carissa Lytle (2019)
- Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy by Adam Jentleson (2021)
- Our First Civil War: Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution by H. W. Brands (2021)
- Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy by Jonah Goldberg (2018)
- Talking Across the Divide: How to Commnunicate with People You Disagree with and Maybe Even Change the World by Justin Lee (2018)
- The Time of Our Lives by Tom Brokaw (2011)
- Unrigged: How Americans are Battling Back to Save Democracy by David Daley (2020)
- A User’s Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Nick Capodice (2020)
If you are interested in volunteering your time and working together with your neighbors, these community organizations are a great place to start:
- Friends of the Goffstown Public Library | https://www.goffstownfriends.com
- Friends of the Goffstown Rail Trail | https://goffstownrailtrail.org/
- Goffstown Democratic Committee | https://goffstowndems.com/
- Goffstown Lions Club | https://e-clubhouse.org/sites/goffstown/
- Goffstown Main Street Program | https://www.goffstownmainstreet.org
- Goffstown Network Food Pantry | https://goffstownnetwork.org/
- Goffstown Republican Town Committee | http://www.goffstowngop.org/
- Goffstown Rotary Club | https://goffstownrotary.org/
- Pinardville Lions Club | https://e-clubhouse.org/sites/pinardville/
Our E-resources are a digital ocean made for deep dives into just about any topic. Civics is no exception:
- Explora is a research tool that enables a quick search of articles, essays, and primary source documents including journals, abstracts, magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias, dictionaries, books, biographies, and historical essays. Includes 60,000 top videos from the Associated Press, and over 1 million relevant photos, images, and maps.
- hoopla offers downloadable books, movies, and audiobooks of many topics, including civics, politics, government and communication techniques.
- Neighborhood News is available through NewsBank, a searchable database of this local newspaper (2019 through the current issue).
- NewsBank – Social Issues is a searchable resource including information on civil rights, communication, social media and crime issues. This is a collection of full-text U.S. newspapers including The Union Leader and the NH Sunday News (since 1989) and The Concord Monitor (since 2002).
- NewsBank – Politics and Government is a searchable resource that covers topics such as civics, governments and voting rights. This is a collection of full-text U.S. newspapers including The Union Leader and the NH Sunday News (since 1989) and The Concord Monitor (since 2002).
- Universal Class offers courses like Community Development and Communication as part of its unlimited access to over 500 continuing education courses covering a broad range of topics. Classes are self-paced and instructor-led, with certified instructors available to answer questions and assess performance. Includes the option for CEUs (continuing education units) on approved courses, and over 100 video audit courses available.
PICTURE BOOKS
- City Green by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan (E DIS)
- Duck for President by Doreen Cronin (E CRO)
- The Hundred-Year Barn by Patricia MacLachlan (E MAC)
- If I Ran for President by Catherine Stier (E STI) and available through Libby
- Keeping the City Going by Brian Floca (E FLO)
- Lillian’s Right to Vote: a Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by Jonah Winter (E WIN)
- Red Green and Blue and White : Inspired by a True Story by Lee Wind (E WIN)
- Thank You, Garden by Elizabeth Garton Scanlon (E SCA)
- Vote for SpongeBob by Erica Pass available through Overdrive
- What Can a Citizen Do? by Dave Eggers (E EGG)
NON-FICTION PICTURE BOOKS
- Bold & Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote by Kirsten Gillibrand (J 324.623 GIL)
- The Day the Women Got the Vote: a Photo History of the Women’s Rights Movement by George Sullivan (J 305.42 SUL)
- Electing our Leaders by Earl McGraw (E 324.6 MCG)
- Election Day by Marc Tyler Nobelman (E 324.6 NOB)
- Eyewitness Vote by Phillip W. Steele (J 324.65 STE)
- Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (J 630 MAR)
- Finish the Fight!: the Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote by Veronica Chambers (J 324.623 CHA) and available through cloudLibrary
- Help Other Countries by Maya Morrison (J 327.1 MOR)
- Ladies of Lliberty : The Women Who Shaped Our Nation by Cokie Roberts (J 305.4 ROB)
- The Liberty Bell by Tamra Orr (E 974.811 ORR)
- Our House is on Fire : Greta Thunberg’s Call to Save the Planet (J B THU)
- Our White House : Looking In, Looking Out (J 975.3 OUR)
- Rules and Responsibilities by Louise Spilsbury (E 323.6 SPI)
- Sit-In : How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney (J 323.11 PIN)
- Turning Pages : My Life Story by Sonia Sotomayor (J B SOT)
- The Voice of Liberty by Angelica Shirley Carpenter (J 324.623 CAR)
- We the Kids : the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States by David Catrow (E 342.73 CAT)
- What are Voting Rights? by Jennifer Lombardo (J 324.62 LOM)
- What Do You Do With a Voice Like That? : The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan by Chris Barton (J B JOR)
- What’s Activism? by Leslie Beckett (J 320.083 BEC)
- We The People : The Story of the U.S. Constitution by Peter Spier (E 342.73 SPI)
- What is Citizenship? By Jessica Pegis (E 323.623 PEG)
CHAPTER BOOKS
- Babymouse for President by Jennifer Holm (J GN HOL)
- The Kid Who Ran for President by Dan Gutman (J PB GUT)
- Major Hubble is in Trouble by Dan Gutman (J PB GUT)
- The Worst Class Trip Ever by Dave Barry (J BAR)
- Beyond High School: A Guide to Your Rights and Responsibilities by Attorney Jennifer A. Eber ~ Published by the New Hampshire Bar Association (2019)
- Drawing the Vote: The Illustrated Guide to Voting in America by Tommy Jenkins (2020)
- Generation React: Activism for Beginners by Danny Seo (1997)
- One Person, No Vote: How Not All Voters Are Treated Equally: a young adult adaption by Carol Anderson (2019)
- Re: Constitutions: Connecting Citizens With The Rules of The Game by Beka Feathers and Kasia Babis (2021)
- The Suffragist Playbook: Your Guide to Changing the World by Lucinda Robb & Rebecca Boggs Roberts (2020)
- Votes for Women! American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot by Winifred Conkling (2018)
- Votes of Confidence: A Young Person’s Guide to American Elections by Jeff Fleischer (2016)
Titles with themes of voting, civic engagement, and community
- Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone (2020)
- Go With The Flow by Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann (2020)
- Kneel by Candace Buford (2021)
- Running by Natalia Sylvester (2020)
- The State of Us by Shaun David Hutchinson (2020)
- The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert (2020)
- Yes, No, Maybe So by Becky Albertalli & Aisha Saeed (2020)
- Your Own Worst Enemy by Jack Gordon (2018)
FOR ADULTS
- Best Five Civics Podcasts by Feedspot Media | https://blog.feedspot.com/civics_podcasts/
- Civic Health Report – Web site devoted to the 2020 New Hampshire Civic Health Index. | https://carsey.unh.edu/what-is-new-hampshire/sections/civic-health-index
- The Civic Reckoning that was 2020 (and What it Means for Teaching and Learning Civics) by NH Humanities – a 2020 lecture exploring how our changing world will also change the way in which we pass on civic lessons to the next generation |
https://www.nhhumanities.org/program/the-civic-reckoning-that-was-2020-and-what-it-means-for-teaching-and-learning-civics - Citizens Count by the Live Free or Die Alliance. – A site devoted to informing NH citizens about Granite State issues and events | https://www.citizenscount.org/
- Community Leadership – By UNH. A site with supportive resources for community oriented organizations | https://extension.unh.edu/economic-development/community-leadership
- Constitutional Toolkit Lecture Series – Six online lectures from James Madison’s Montpelier | https://www.montpelier.org/events/constitutional-toolkit
- A “Good” Citizen – Six-lecture Series by New Hampshire Humanities, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Mellon Foundation. | https://www.nhhumanities.org/unionlectures
- Headcount.org’s Issues and Candidates – An enormous list of online non-partisan electoral resources | https://www.headcount.org/issues-and-candidates/
- Leadership New Hampshire. – An organization devoted to helping Granite Staters “ …be more informed and gain a deeper sense of what makes our state unique.” | https://leadershipnh.org/
- New Futures – “ … a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocates, educates, and collaborates to improve the health and wellness of all New Hampshire residents through policy change. | https://www.new-futures.org/
- New Hampshire Bar Association Civics in Action – Can YOU pass the U.S. Naturalization Test? | https://www.nhbar.org/civics-in-action/
- New Hampshire Bulletin – “…an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping the people of the Granite State informed about the issues that matter most.” | https://newhampshirebulletin.com/
- NH Institute for Civics Education –Largely devoted to how we teach our children about civics, there are items of interest for all ages here. | https://www.nhcivics.org
- Renewing Trust in Democracy: The Role of the Media. The 2022 William F. Treat Lecture, posted by the University of New Hampshire School of Law, in partnership with NH Civics, NH Humanities, Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications and Citizens Count. | https://media.unh.edu/media/Renewing+Trust+in+DemocracyA+The+Role+of+the+Media/1_2qfwlu2n
- Renewing Trust in Neighbors: The 2021 William F. Treat Lecture, posted by the University of New Hampshire School of Law, in partnership with NH Civics, NH Humanities. | https://media.unh.edu/media/William+W.+Treat+Lecture+Series+1A+Civic+Health+-+Renewing+Trust+Among+Neighbors/1_44n72et3
- Town of Goffstown Elections Page – Includes state and local election information https://www.goffstown.com/dept/th/town-hall-town-clerk/elections/
- Town of Goffstown Community Calendar – Lists time and location of all town committee meetings open to the public. | https://www.goffstown.com/community/calendar
- Town of Goffstown U.S State and Federal Officials Page – Our town’s web site has an excellent page which links to the sites for all of Goffstown’s Federal and State elected representatives. | https://www.goffstown.com/committees-officials/state-officials/834-state-officials
FOR KIDS
- Civics and Our Government – books, activities, podcasts, and further resources | Start with a Book https://www.startwithabook.org/summer-reading-learning/civics-and-our-government
- History & Civics, Education & Literacy | Our White House https://ourwhitehouse.org/
- We the Civics Kids | Constitution Center https://constitutioncenter.org/learn/educational-resources/we-the-civics-kids
FOR TEENS
- Adolescent participation and civic engagement | UNICEF https://www.unicef.org/adolescence/participation
- Civic Engagement | Youth.gov https://youth.gov/youth-topics/civic-engagement-and-volunteering
- Engage in meaningful civic learning | iCivics https://www.icivics.org/
- Learn the score of opportunity in your community and see where there is need for change | Opportunity Index https://opportunityindex.org/#4.00/40.00/-97.00/
Please evaluate these sites based on your needs and preferences. The Goffstown Public Library does not endorse any of these sites.
Further Reading
More Goffstown Public Library Community Conversations
2022 Civics: Get Engaged. Get Involved.
2021 Can We Talk About the Environment?
2019-2020 Can We Talk About Race?