Fruita for Equality is a collaboration to support equality, inclusivity, and diversity through meaningful conversations and action in the community.
October 2021
Wear a costume and carve a pumpkin during our Spooky Pumpkin Extravaganza!
We're excited to invite everyone to our Spooky Pumpkin Extravaganza from 5 - 7 p.m. Friday, October 29, next to Best Slope Coffee (129 N. Peach St.). Thank you to the Fruita Rotary Club for donating pumpkins!
Want to learn how to improve your listening skills? Participate in an active listening training
At the Fruita for Equality committee meeting in October, we learned about active listening techniques and discussed how we might use these strategies in different situations. The guide can be found here.

Some highlights from the discussion include knowing when to respond to people who approach you. This includes choosing how to respond. If the discussion is too heated, it might be best to offer to have a conversation at a later time or on more neutral ground. If you do choose to engage, it is suggested that you follow the active listening matrix outlined in the document. The goal of this work is to create a generative conversation where, even if you can’t agree, common ground and understanding can be established.
November Meeting Agenda
The Fruita for Equality Committee's November meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday, November 15, at the Fruita Branch Library IdeaLab or virtually via the video conferencing platform Zoom.
The meeting agenda:
  • Skill Development
  • Pumpkin Carving and Decorating Community Event Debrief
  • Living Room Conversation Discussion
  • Identifying and planning our next event
Mesa County Libraries offer
Mirrors and Windows Reading Experience
Participate in the Mirrors and Windows Reading Experience to explore the stories of our diverse world.

Discovering the experiences of others will help you connect with your neighbors in Mesa County.

Complete this reading experience by earning badges. For each badge, you will select and explore a title, reflect and/or share how the materials you chose sit with you. Each badge you earn will allow you to discover new stories or connect with stories similar to your own.
Book/Media recommendations
In this deeply inspiring book, Winona Guo and Priya Vulchi recount their experiences talking to people about race and identity on a cross-country tour of the United States. Determined to ignite a substantive discussion about racism, these two young women deferred college admission for a year to travel to all 50 states, conducting hundreds of interviews that uncover how racism plays out in this country every day, and often in unexpected ways. Guo and Vulchi uncover the lines that separate us based on race or other perceived differences and explore how telling our stories -- and listening deeply to the stories of others -- are the first and most crucial steps we can take toward negating racial inequity in our culture."
Featuring interviews with more than 150 Americans accompanied by their photographs, this intimate toolkit also offers a deep examination of the seeds of racism and strategies for effecting change. This groundbreaking book will inspire readers to join Guo and Vulchi in imagining an America in which we can fully understand and appreciate who we are.
-- Description adapted from back cover
In August 2018 Greta Thunberg decided not to go to school one day in order to protest the climate crisis. Her actions sparked a global movement, inspiring millions of students to go on strike for our planet. This collection of her speeches provides a rallying cry for why we must all wake up and fight to protect the living planet, no matter how powerless we feel. Our future depends upon it.
-- Description adapted from back cover
About Fruita for Equality
Fruita for Equality is an initiative to promote and support equality, inclusivity, and diversity through meaningful conversations and action in the community. Collaborators in Fruita for Equality include Mesa County Libraries, Fruita Rotary, the City of Fruita, and Lithic Bookstore and Gallery.
Have a question about Fruita for Equality?
Contact fruitaforequality@gmail.com for more information.
A NOTE TO READERS

• You are receiving this e-newsletter because you are a patron of Mesa County Libraries and/or have signed up to receive news about Fruita for Equality. This newsletter is sent monthly (with occasional special editions) to keep you informed about what’s happening with Fruita for Equality.
• Mesa County Libraries value your privacy and will not share your email address or other information with anyone.
• You can update your library e-newsletter subscriptions by visiting the "Update Profile" link at the bottom of this newsletter. You can also remove yourself from all library e-newsletter lists by visiting the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of this newsletter. 
Contact Mesa County Libraries at 970-243-4442 or visit mesacountylibraries.org