The pottsboro area public library in texas will implement, evaluate, and document a practical civic engagement framework with artificial intelligence-assisted listening designed specifically for small…

The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded $188,048 to the City of Pottsboro on September 1, 2026, under the National Leadership Grants program (CFDA 45.312) to implement, evaluate, and document a civic engagement framework using artificial intelligence-assisted listening designed for small and rural public libraries.

The Pottsboro Area Public Library will facilitate small-group dialogue sessions with community residents, deploy ethical artificial intelligence to identify recurring themes, and publish validated community insight reports and audio medleys showing how community perspectives relate to one another. Primary beneficiaries are Pottsboro-area residents, with emphasis on expanding participation among working adults, caregivers, youth, and geographically distant residents in formal civic processes. In partnership with Cortico, the project will produce an open-access, practitioner-focused national toolkit for replication, including implementation tiers, budget models, ethical AI guidelines, consent templates, and cost-per-session documentation. The toolkit will support youth artificial literacy experiences integrated into community dialogue sessions.

Work is performed in Pottsboro, Texas. The period of performance runs from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2028. This is a Project Grant, an assistance type.

The pottsboro area public library in texas will implement, evaluate, and document a practical civic engagement framework with artificial intelligence-assisted listening designed specifically for small and rural public libraries. In partnership with cortico, the library will facilitate small-group dialogue sessions engaging approximately residents, use ethical artificial intelligence assistance to identify recurring themes, and publish validated community insight reports and audio medleys that transparently show how a community's perspectives relate to one another. The primary beneficiaries will be pottsboro-area residents, with emphasis on expanding participation among working adults, caregivers, youth, and geographically distant residents in formal civic processes. Features of this project will be an open-access, practitioner-focused national toolkit for replication, with implementation tiers, budget models, ethical artificial guidelines, consent templates, and cost-per-session documentation; and youth artificial literacy experiences integrated into community dialogue sessions.