Thomas Jefferson once said, “Information is the currency of democracy.” With the goal of sharing information and helping residents of Deschutes County become informed about candidates and issues during this election cycle, Deschutes Public Library is offering “Know Elections,” a series of programs and presentations throughout the district.

During the series, the library plays host to three different candidate forums (sponsored by Deschutes County League of Women Voters and the Redmond Chapter of the AAUW). The forums are designed to give the candidates an opportunity to state their positions and give attendees a chance to ask questions.

Open and honest discussion is at the center of Bob Killen’s presentation called “Building Dialog in an Age of Demons.” Killen, executive director of the City Club of Central Oregon, explores the critical issue of how we can learn to build dialog in a society where civil discourse has been replaced by shouting, name calling, and labeling.

Local author and professor of Political Science at OSU-Cascades, James Foster will be reading from his recently published book Bong Hits 4 Jesus: A Perfect Constitutional Storm in Alaska’s Capital. Foster, who specializes in constitutional law, shares the First Amendment rights case of students in Juneau who during the Olympic Torch relay in January 2002 flew a controversial banner.

Jeff Golden, an author and Oregon Humanities scholar, leads two programs made possible in part by a grant from OH (a statewide non-profit organization and in independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which funds OH’s grant programs). Golden explores the issues of the role media plays in our democracy and the crisis in modern governance.

For a complete list of programs, please visit the Know Elections! web page.