1st Story: Libraries are hubs for citizen-ing 📚

Not just for reading stories, but for collectively creating them.

Today we launch our first story in the Week of Citizening! (See the launch post).

If you do one thing, just click through on this Instagram reel. If you don’t sharecrop for Mark Zuckerberg, here’s a LinkedIn version.

baratunde

A post shared by @baratunde

What if every library in the world was a hub for citizening—a space where people could come together, tell their own stories, and build new ones? It’s already happening.

And Cossitt Library in downtown Memphis is leading the way.

🎙️ Meet Ena Esco — Innovator-in-Residence for podcast programming. In a city that’s majority Black and shaped by deep economic challenges, Ena is turning a traditional library into a platform for power.

Inside this public library you’ll find:

📸 A podcast studio

🎥 A video + photo lab

🎭 A performance space

All free. All open to the public.

“We live in an era where a lot of people are being silenced. I’m proud to mentor folks and watch them realize: they can say what they truly want to say.” — Ena Esco

This is what it looks like to practice power. To citizen.

💡 Know a library or organization making space for storytelling, innovation, and community? Tag them in the comments!

🔗 Want more stories like this? Visit stories.howtocitizen.com.

🎥 Video produced by Tess Novotnoy

Here’s how you can help:

📩 Sign up at https://stories.howtocitizen.com

✅ Follow @baratunde, Jon (@thecitizensguy), and @HowToCitizen on Instagram

💬 Engage. Comment. Share. Tag someone doing similar work.

📣 Know someone with a platform or newsletter? Ask them to help spread the word.