CMC Libraries: Common Reader: Borrow Audio & eBooks

Common Reader Books on Libby

We’re thrilled to announce the selected book for Colorado Mountain College's 2024 Common Reader program: "Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of a Good Citizen" by New York Times bestselling author Richard Haass. This selection isn't just a book—it's a catalyst for meaningful conversations as we head into a pivotal election year. The college is collaborating with media partners and financial supporters so that as many people as possible can participate across Colorado’s Western Slope. Plans are in progress with PBS12, Aspen Public Radio, and the Daniels Fund to support next year’s programming, with more collaborators joining this effort. Numerous events will be held on our campuses, including community discussions and talks from the author. We look forward to collectively exploring our shared stories and obligations in our beautiful mountain communities.

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Resources

Government Information and Public Organizations

The U.S. Constitution
Executive Branch: President
Legislative Branch: Senate
Legislative Branch: House of Representatives
Judicial Branch: Supreme Court of the United States
USA.Gov
The official guide to government information and services, search this site for statutes and policy on nearly any topic.
Governor of Colorado
Colorado General Assembly
Unify America
Unify America leverages interactive technology and engaging experiences to reduce political polarization, teach problem-solving skills, and empower everyday Americans with opportunities to make civic change. Together, we can create an America where we harness the power of our differences, recognize our shared goals, and collaborate to solve our toughest problems.

Opposing Viewpoints

CQ Researcher
Offers in-depth, unbiased coverage of political and social issues, with regular reports on a wide range of topics. Each report is investigated and written by a seasoned journalist, professionally fact-checked, and footnoted to facilitate further research. Reports date back to 1923.
Global Issues in Context
Ties together sources to present a rich analysis of issues: social, political, military, economic, environmental, science related, health related, cultural, and headlines in world hot spots.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context
Covers today’s hottest social issues presenting each side of a topic.
Points of View Reference Center
Contains resources that present multiple sides of an issue. Provides more than 370 topics, each with an overview (objective background / description), point (argument), and counterpoint (opposing argument). Each topic features a Guide to Critical Analysis which helps the reader evaluate the controversy.

Videos

A Citizen's Guide to Preserving Democracy | PBS
With American democracy under threat, diplomat Dr. Richard Haass outlines ten habits to help citizens preserve democracy. Haass also explores real-life examples of Americans who are working towards strengthening democracy and renewing the spirit of a more informed and engaged citizenry.
3 Questions to Ask Yourself About US Citizenship | TED
At age 16, journalist and filmmaker Jose Antonio Vargas found out he was in the United States illegally. Since then, he's been thinking deeply about immigration and what it means to be a US citizen -- whether it's by birth, law or otherwise. In this powerful talk, Vargas calls for a shift in how we think about citizenship and encourages us all to reconsider our personal histories by answering three questions: Where did you come from? How did you get here? Who paid?

Articles and Books for Faculty

Election Imperatives: Ten recommendations to increase college student voting and improve political learning and engagement in democracy by Nancy Thmoas, Margaret Brower, Ishara Casellas Connors, Adam Gismondi, and Kyle Upchurch | for the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education, Tufts University
Founded in 2015, IDHE was created to address deficits in student learning for a stronger democracy. The Institute’s signature initiative, the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE), offers colleges and universities an opportunity to learn their student registration and voting rates.
Community Colleges for Democracy: Aligning civic and community engagement with institutional priorities by C.A. Hurd and V.L. Robinson
This publication from Campus Compact examines how civic engagement and learning strategies can be leveraged to advance institutional effectiveness, college completion, and student success. This collection of chapters features case studies from community colleges across the country.
Community Engagement as Community Development: Making the case for multilateral, collaborative, equity-focused campus-community partnerships by C.A. Hurd and T.K. Stanton
In this essay, the authors offer a framework for a community development-focused, multilateral, sustainable justice-oriented service-learning and community engagement (SLCE); exploring what it is, why it is needed, how it looks different from other existing and emerging trends in SLCE, and how they believe it would transform the ways in which institutions of higher education (IHEs) think about and approach both community partnership-building and student learning in community contexts.
The Craft of Community Engaged Teaching and Learning by S. Plaxton-Moore and M. Welch
Using a conversational voice, the authors provide a foundation as well as a blueprint and tools to craft a community-engaged course. Based on extensive research, the book provides a scope and sequence of information and skills ranging from an introduction to community engagement, to designing, implementing, and assessing a course, to advancing the craft to prepare for promotion and tenure as well as how to become a citizen-scholar and reflective practitioner.
The Community's College: The pursuit of democracy, economic development, and success by Robert L. Pura and Tara L. Parker
Offering the insights of the former president of Greenfield Community College—located in Massachusetts’s poorest rural county—who was a national leader in community college and higher education organizations as well as closely involved with local businesses and organizations; and commentary and background data provided by Professor of Higher Education and Chair of the Department of Leadership in Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this book addresses the challenges that community colleges face as they strive to achieve their complex missions in a changing world.
The Effects of Community-Based and Civic Engagement in Higher Education: What we know and questions that remain by Jessica R. Chittum, Kathryn A. E. Enke, and Ashley P. Finley
This research synthesis aims to assess the state of research on the efficacy of HIPs in higher education broadly and with regard to the efficacy of community-based and civic engagement specifically. Unlike a literature review, which often takes a broad and inclusive approach to assembling evidence, the focus of this synthesis has been intentionally narrowed to highlight common themes across empirical studies that meet a defined set of criteria for methodological scope and scale to better aggregate available evidence and clarify new empirical gaps.
Transformative Critical Service-Learning Theory and Practice for Engaging Community College and University Learners in Building an Activist Mindset by L. Arnold and H. Coffey
Transformative Critical Service-Learning offers hands-on tools for implementing, reflecting on, and assessing critical service-learning in classrooms and community spaces. Answering a need from practitioners for a practical tool for making sense of critical service-learning, the authors introduce the Critical Service-Learning Implementation Model as a way to encourage conversations among stakeholders.