Try your e-bike here! Libraries lend books, snow shovels, rakes, games, seeds, hotspots, and so much more. And now: E-bikes. Good for the environment, good for transportation, good for well-being of people.

Here's a brief summer read for you from Our Towns:

A gem of Downeast is Eastport, Maine. Jim and I visited for the 6th time last week to talk about the 'new conventional wisdom' of the value and treasure of smaller towns. Thanks @MaineMonitor, Quoddy Tides, and people of Eastport. Our Towns Civic Foundation James Fallows ourtownsfoundation.org/our-towns-retu…

Back again up Downeast. Good news from Eastport, Maine. Our Towns Civic Foundation ourtownsflyer.substack.com/p/late-summer-…

Thanks to the volunteer Turtle Patrol of the Coastal Wildlife Club for their relentless reporting on sea turtle activity. Citizen Science at work in their own communities.

Soft diplomacy: So proud that HBO ‘Our Towns’ will be screened in Kyiv 9/29. Thanks American Film Showcase, US State Dept, & USC School of Cinematic Arts. Thanks US Emb Ukraine & America House. Congrats West City Films AFS U.S. Embassy Kyiv westcityfilms.com/ourtowns/

Remember your high school history teacher? Chuck Yarborough is the gold standard. Listen to this lesson from Chuck. Teacher at MS School Math/Science (MSMS), Emerson Collective Fellow. Friend of Our Towns. Emerson Collective The MSMS Our Towns Civic Foundation Chuck Yarborough podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how…

New season. New mission. New website. Check it out and please subscribe to newsletter.

"X, formerly known as Twitter,..." So, how long will it take for this appositive phrase to disappear? Bets anyone?

Esri StoryMap competition happening now. This year's theme is Conservation. Here's how to register for September 28 webinar for everything you need to know. ArcGIS StoryMaps IUCN Our Towns Civic Foundation esri.com/arcgis-blog/pr…

A town's public spaces reveal a lot about what a town values.

Why reading Banned Books out loud matters. Here's what happened in my hometown of DC. #BannedBooksWeek DC Public Library American Library Association Urban Libraries Council GuillotiNe Theatre Our Towns Civic Foundation ourtownsfoundation.org/reading-banned…

Mississippi high school students immortalize a forgotten moment of 1960s desegregation. Our Towns Civic Foundation The MSMS MS Univ for Women Emerson Collective James Fallows Chuck Yarborough ourtownsfoundation.org/mississippi-im…

"Boxing is what we do. Community is who we are," says Ian Franklin, CEO of Project Fighting Chance in San Bernardino. Featured in Our Towns HBO documentary. PFC's Terry "the Terrible" Washington, 19, now headed for Olympic trials. Our Towns Civic Foundation youtube.com/watch?v=IUaGHH…

Recovering lost crab pots and focusing on Charles River dams. Both amazing StoryMaps that Our Towns will feature soon as our winners. Congrats!

Beyond words and pictures. A better, richer way to tell and read stories online. Maps, timelines, sliding images, video, audio enhance well-chosen words. ArcGIS StoryMaps Our Towns Civic Foundation James Fallows Charles River Watershed Association ourtownsfoundation.org/how-story-maps…

How a local paper informs citizens and encourages them to engage in issues they care about. A model for local journalism. Still in FL. Still reading daily! Our Towns Civic Foundation Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Our Towns update on the remarkable surge in local Sustainability projects, reporting, and funding across the US. ourtownsfoundation.org/sustainability… Our Towns Civic Foundation Climate Central ArcGIS StoryMaps California Volunteers Report for America University of Redlands

The next step forward for public libraries: Becoming 'sustainable.' What that means and why it matters. (by me). Our Towns Civic Foundation Sustainable Libraries Initiative San Diego County Library Lakeside Library American Library Association @Jamesfallows ourtownsfoundation.org/how-libraries-…

Did your Covid vax experience look like this? Outside. Sunny, warm 72 degrees. Neighbors. Coffee and homemade snickerdoodles. Thanks, Palisades Village, for supporting local community. And thanks, Giant Pharmacy. Palisades Village Our Towns Civic Foundation James Fallows