The American Conversation Project for Libraries
As America marks 250 years, invite your community to a new kind of conversation.
About the project
No surveys. No comment box. Instead, a real conversation — with your neighbors, in your community, about the things that matter most.
As America marks 250 years, the American Conversation Project (ACP) is bringing people together across the country to share stories, listen deeply, and strengthen the bonds that hold us together. This summer — during Civic Season, June 19 through July 4 — libraries across the country will host recorded small-group conversations where neighbors share what's on their minds: what they love about where they live, what feels broken, what they hope for, and how they want to take action.
Those stories don't disappear when the conversation ends. Using a combination of human listening and AI-assisted tools, ACP works with Cortico to surface insights from communities across the country and share them back — so people can hear not just what their neighbors are saying, but what Americans everywhere are thinking and feeling. [See an example of this work in action.]
ACP is a nonpartisan initiative led by the National Conference on Citizenship, in partnership with Cortico and a growing coalition of civic, cultural, education, faith, and media organizations.
Why libraries
Libraries are trusted, open to everyone, and where communities already come together. This project gives that gathering structure, and a mission.
We're looking for public libraries of all sizes, in all kinds of communities. We're looking for public libraries of all sizes, in all kinds of communities – rural, urban, suburban, and tribal – in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, DC, and the territories. You don't need to be an expert in civic programming or facilitation. If your library serves people, you belong in this cohort.
What we're asking
Here's what we ask of each participating library:
Nominate one or more staff members or community volunteers to get hands-on experience facilitating small-group conversations – no prior experience needed. We provide full training and support throughout.
Help recruit participants from your community for one or more small-group conversations. These can be woven into existing library programming — a book club, a youth group, a senior program, a summer series — or hosted as standalone events. If people are already gathering at your library, a conversation can happen there.
Conversations can be hosted in English, Spanish, or other languages — reach out to confirm what’s possible.
Host conversations during Civic Season (June 19–July 4, with flexibility into August and September).
Cortico handles everything else: training, technology, recording, analysis, and outputs.
What your library gets
Beyond contributing your community's voices to a national record, here's what your participation includes:
A stipend of $250–$1,000 based on the number of conversations you host
Plus an early sign-up bonus — an extra $250 for the first library per state or territory to sign up!
Hands-on experience facilitating community conversations — practical skills your staff keeps
Insights from your community's own conversations
Access to Cortico’s conversation platform for ongoing AI-supported listening work
The ACP Toolkit: conversation guide, outreach templates, and social media assets
A physical swag kit mailed to your library in June
Named credit in ACP's national synthesis and media outputs — amplified through partners including PBS and NPR affiliates — elevating local voices on a national stage.
Connection to a national network of peer libraries
(Optional) AI Sensemaking Certificate — a paid opportunity for libraries that want to go deeper. Learn how to surface patterns across conversations through a listening process led by people and supported by AI tools
(Optional) Audio storytelling workshops for you and your team
How it works
Complete a 90-minute virtual facilitator orientation & recorded demo conversation
Optional community of practice meet-ups to ask questions and share progress
Lead one or more recorded conversations during Civic Season (June 19–July 4)
Cortico surfaces insights from your conversations and shares back with your library
Share your community's voices locally and as part of the national collection
Timeline
Now through May:
Express interest and sign up
May-June:
Facilitator orientations
June 19–July 4:
Civic Season — host your conversations
Flexibility window for additional conversations
July–September:
Fall:
Sensemaking, outputs, and sharing
Ready to get involved?
Sign up here and add your library to a growing network of ACP communities!
Sign-up Deadline: May 29, 2026
Sign up early. The first library from each state or territory to commit receives an additional $250.
Have questions first? Visit the FAQs, join a virtual learning call or reach out at programs@cortico.ai
About the Partners
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Cortico helps organizations listen better — through small-group conversations. We work with nonprofits, schools, newsrooms, and community groups that want to better understand the people they serve.
Through recorded dialogue and a combination of human listening and AI-assisted tools, we help turn lived experience into insights that can actually be used — surfacing patterns across many conversations while keeping real voices at the center.
Cortico has partnered with 300+ organizations across the globe, in cooperation with MIT's Center for Constructive Communication.
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NCoC was founded in 1946 and chartered by Congress in 1953 to serve as a central hub for America’s efforts to make citizenship more effective by developing a field that contributes to a more active, alert, enlightened, conscientious, and progressive citizenry. Today, NCoC achieves that mission through a range of programs that enable communities to measure civic health through public data, empower stakeholders to leverage civic infrastructure to understand our digital civic discourse, and convene the wider community to ensure that our institutions centralize equity in our political representation. In addition to these year-round programs, NCoC hosts an Annual Conference that brings together the organizations and partners we serve with thought leaders, policymakers, and practitioners to further the field of civic engagement.
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IREX works with governments, the private sector, and local partners to help people learn, lead, and thrive. For more than 50 years, IREX has focused on investing in people and strengthening the conditions for lasting progress: supporting young people and leaders with essential skills, strengthening institutions to be more effective and accountable, and expanding access to quality education and trusted information, including through digital development and innovation. IREX currently co-leads a community of practice supporting 300+ library staff to strengthen their work to connect American communities across differences with the Urban Libraries Council and OCLC's WebJunction, and has built a free resource hub for libraries interested in fostering connection housed on WebJunction's website.