From the press release:
It’s Cool to Be Kind!
Champaign Public Library Launches Civility Week, April 7-13, 2013
CHAMPAIGN PUBLIC LIBRARY will lead an effort to enhance the quality of life in our community through programs and activities that explore the principles of civility.
Civility Week provides a chance to get our community talking about important issues such as bullying in schools and incivility in the workplace. It’s a time to learn ways to cope with the rudeness around us. And it’s an invitation for each of us to consider how we can choose civility ourselves.
Community members of all ages are invited to attend a variety of civility-related programs at the library, take a civility pledge, download the song Civility by David Howie, and take action with the library’s seven ingredients of civility:
- Tune in. Be aware of the needs of others. ·
- Think the best. Give the benefit of the doubt. ·
- Speak kindly. Your words have power. ·
- Be inclusive. Respect all points of view. ·
- Own up. Admit mistakes and make a fresh start. ·
- Stay cool. Don’t answer rudeness with rudeness. ·
- Start something. Small kindnesses can spread.
Programs at the library include a Civility Concert, Civility in the Workplace, Bullying Prevention, and a discussion of Civility in the Politics and the Media. Information about Civility Week is available at http://www.civilitycu.org.
This initiative is inspired by the book Choosing Civility: The 25 Rules of Considerate Conduct by P. M. Forni. Champaign Public Library brought Forni to the community for a public presentation in October 2012.
According to Forni, in becoming good citizens and good neighbors, we create harmonious and caring relationships that foster a happy life. The by-product of doing justice to others is the enrichment of our own lives.
Civility Week sponsors are Champaign Public Library Friends, Parkland College, University of Illinois Library, BPC & Habeeb Habeeb, The News-Gazette, Adams Outdoor, and Surface 51.