Spooner Memorial Library 715.635.2792 | Mon-Fri 8am-7pm, Sat 8am-4pm

Spooner Community Powered Project

"Rivers to the People" sculpture by Sara Balbin, installed in 2002

What is Community Powered?

Community Powered is an initiative of Wisconsin Humanities that harnesses the stories, histories, and strengths of communities to build community resilience.

Over 2022-2023, Community Powered has partnered with the Spooner Memorial Library and libraries or cultural organizations in three other Wisconsin communities: Appleton, Racine, and Forest County Potawatomi.

Community Powered hired four recent humanities college graduates with roots in each community to return home and help the communities work toward a local project that meets each community’s needs.

Together, Emily Riewestahl (our Project Coordinator), Spooner Memorial Library, and other organizations and citizens in Spooner worked together to develop locally meaningful projects. While the projects below started during this one-year project, they will be sustained in the future by the Spooner Memorial Library and the community.

Older Veteran Saluting. Photo by Sydney Rae on Unsplash

Community Veteran Oral History Project

Hear stories from our Veterans collected at the 2022 Washburn County Fair. 

Go!
Teens decorate bags with representations of what community means to them.

Teen Powered Lock In

Learn about the Teen Powered Lock-in and the community projects that the teens developed during the event.

Photo Collage from Fall History Harvest

Community History Harvests

Listen to stories from community members about the meaningful objects that they treasure.

Go!

Community Powered is made possible thanks to a Capacity Building Grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Other financial support is provided by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the National Endowment for the Humanities, and a generous private donor.