AUBURN — The Auburn Public Library is one of the hosting libraries of The Camden Conference in 2025.
The Camden Conference was founded in 1987 as a nonprofit, non-partisan educational organization whose mission is to foster informed discourse on world issues. Each year, the organization hosts a conference, with participating libraries offering community events related to their theme, according to a news release from Donna Wallace, Adult Services manager at the library.
The 38th annual Camden Conference, scheduled for Feb 21-23, 2025, is titled “Democracy Under Threat: A Global Perspective.” It will be both a live and virtual event. It will be hosted in Maine at the Camden Opera House, 29 Elm St. in Camden; live-streamed to the Strand Theatre in Rockland and the Lunt Auditorium in Falmouth; and available virtually to homes and classrooms worldwide.
This year’s topic focuses on democracies worldwide, which are under intense pressure from populist and nationalist movements. These movements threaten individual freedoms and strain international relations. The conference will look at the challenges to democracies around the world and explore solutions to strengthen democratic systems.
Leading up to this year’s conference, the Auburn library has three events planned. On Thursday, Jan. 16, the library is set to host screening and discussion of the documentary “Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas” from 3-5 p.m. in the Androscoggin Community Room.
On Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, the library will welcome Dr. Clarisa Pérez-Armendáriz, associate professor of politics and chairwoman of the Latin American and Latinx Studies program at Bates College in Lewiston. Pérez-Armendáriz will talk about elections, populism and democratic backsliding in the Americas from 4:30-5:30 p.m. in the Androscoggin Community Room.
The final event will be a discussion of the book “Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson.” The talk is set for 4-5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, in the conference room. Because of funding provided by the Camden Conference, free copies of the book are available to those who register, and books will be available for pickup on or after Jan. 6.
To register for any of these events, visit auburnpubliclibrary.org or call the reference desk at 207-333-6640, ext. 4.
For more details on the conference, including participating speakers, membership or other pre-conference events, visit camdenconference.org.
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