{"id":13814,"date":"2026-01-25T02:04:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T09:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/upcoming-community-reading-program-to-highlight-public-service\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:41:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:41:24","slug":"upcoming-community-reading-program-to-highlight-public-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/upcoming-community-reading-program-to-highlight-public-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Upcoming community reading program to highlight public service"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A
A crane lifts the Sunflower Theatre\u2019s new marquee into place on Tuesday. Over the past 1\u00bd years, the theater has reported more than 3,000 ticket sales for live music, films, lectures and other performances. \u201cWe hope the new sign will attract even more people to enjoy arts, culture, and entertainment at the Sunflower,\u201d said director Kim Welty. Donors and a grant from the Cortez Retail Enhancement Association paid for the sign. The Sunflower opens its 2016-17 season in September; for information, visit sunflowertheatre.org or call 970-516-1818.<\/span>Sam Green\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The League of Women Voters is launching a community reading program in partnership with the Cortez Public Library, Dolores Public Library, Mancos Public Library, the Sunflower Theatre and the LOR Foundation.<\/p>\n

The first book selected is \u201cWho Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service,\u201d a collection of essays profiling federal workers and highlighting their contributions to public service.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic service is often undervalued, and civil servants are too often viewed negatively when, in fact, the work they do is vital and sometimes lifesaving,\u201d League of Women Voters\u2019 Karen Sheek told The Journal. \u201cRather than being lazy and incompetent, \u2018Who Is Government?\u2019 shines a light on the dedication and excellence many of these men and women demonstrate every day on the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

The essays are written by various authors and edited by bestselling nonfiction author Michael Lewis, known for \u201cThe Blind Side,\u201d \u201cMoneyball\u201d and other works.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn F. Kennedy understood the value of public service. One of his most famous quotes came from his 1961 Inaugural Address when he said, \u2018Ask not what your country can do for you \u2013 ask what you can do for your country,\u2019\u201d Sheek said. \u201cHe urged citizens to engage in service for the public good stating, \u2018I think there\u2019s no higher calling in terms of a career than public service, which is a chance to make a difference in people\u2019s lives and improve the world.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Community members who wish to participate are encouraged to borrow the book from a local library. It is also available through the Libby app, which allows users with a library card to access ebooks and audiobooks.<\/p>\n

The program will conclude at the Sunflower Theatre on Friday, May 1 at 7 p.m. Participants will be able to discuss the book, and a panel of current or retired federal employees will share why they entered public service, the challenges they have faced and their achievements throughout their careers. Local author Chuck Greaves will help facilitate the discussion.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, many have a poor view of government at all levels and it certainly has its flaws. Perhaps reading \u2018Who Is Government?\u2019 will highlight the good that government can do, and reading the stories of those who have served the American people faithfully and well will renew our faith in the value of those performing public service,\u201d Sheek said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

program will culminate with a group discussion and panel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[364,21,44,28,83,60,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-13814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-community","tag-cortez","tag-dolores","tag-headlines","tag-mancos","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13814"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77090,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13814\/revisions\/77090"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13814"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}