Co-creating Public Libraries ft. Shamichael Hallman

What this episode covers

Shamichael Hallman is currently a visiting fellow (Loeb Fellow) at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, and a Teaching Fellow at the Center for Impact Strategy at the University of Pennsylvania. As part of his fellowship work at Harvard, he is exploring how design and planning can make for socially inclusive cities and welcoming public spaces. From 2017 to 2022 he served as the Senior Library Manager of the historic Cossitt Library (Memphis Public Libraries). In this role he helped oversee the multi-million-dollar renovation of the library. As part of the Reimagining the Civic Commons initiative, the renovated Cossitt Library features a café, studio spaces, coworking areas, and more. His 2020 TEDx talk "Reimagining the Public Library to Reconnect the Community" garnered international acclaim among library professionals. In 2021 he co-founded Libraries as Bridges; a collective of library professionals focused on understanding, advancing, and evaluating how libraries build social cohesion, promote civic renewal, and advance the ideals of a healthy American democracy. In this role he has convened hundreds of library systems from across country, as well given talks to organizations such as Urban Libraries Council, on the topic of public libraries and American Democracy. Prior to joining Memphis Public Libraries, Shamichael worked at the intersection of faith and technology as a minister, technologist, and organizer. He has co-organized faith-related tech events across the globe and given talks to faith-inspired technologists at companies such as Microsoft and Google. He holds an MS in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.