Nan Whaley | Graphic by Dylan Collison | The Wright State Guardian
The Friends of the Libraries will be hosting a virtual “lunch-in” event with Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley on April 21 from noon to 1 p.m. with the theme of “Leadership in Challenging Times.”
This is an annual event previously held in the Berry Room of the Nutter Center.
“We have a buffet lunch and speaker and usually display library materials or technology to match the theme,” Head Librarian Sue Polanka said.
Discussions with Mayor Whaley
Speakers for the event are recommended by the Friends of the Libraries board. Board member Catherine Queener suggested having Whaley at the “lunch-in” this year, partly since she is a well-known figure in the Dayton area.
Whaley is a Wright State University (WSU) alumna, having graduated in 2009 with a master’s degree in public administration and becoming the mayor in 2014. During this event, she will be discussing the process of leading Dayton through the challenges the city has faced in recent years including the 2019 tornadoes, the Oregon District shooting and the current pandemic.
“As someone who as a little girl [went] to a library to do research and learn about other people and to read, I think they’re special places,” Whaley said. “Especially during the pandemic, people have found, a lot of times, their internet at libraries and their ability to find solace.”
She will also be discussing the role that Dayton residents can take on as active citizens and how challenges are resolved in today’s tumultuous political climate.
“It is always good to hear the stories and experiences of leaders throughout our world, particularly when they share how they made decisions during difficult and tragic times,” Polanka said. “We may not agree with what they did or how they did it, but we can learn from their experience.”
Improving news literacy
After Whaley’s presentation, the University Libraries’ Head of Instruction and Research Services, Mandy Shannon, will discuss ways for students to fact-check information and become responsible media consumers.
The presenter says that one of the ways students can improve their news literacy is to understand the different categories of bad information: malinformation, misinformation and disinformation.
“What we can do as news consumers is to approach it with a critical eye and skepticism but without cynicism, and that balance is really tricky,” Shannon said.
Shannon believes that news literacy is vital in today’s world due to its role in civic engagement and citizenship.
“We’re living in the information age; information is power, information is currency and information shapes how we understand the world,” Shannon said. “If you are building your understanding of the world on a skewed perception of reality, then it’s difficult to break out of that and engage fully across the spectrum and to understand what the context of real issues is.”
The event will be held on WebEx. Registration is free, but attendees can register as Luncheon Patrons for $25 to help support the Friends of the Libraries. The Friends may look at running similar events in the future depending on fundraising, attendance and the recruitment of new members.
