Gold and politics, growing world hunger, and Maine ships abroad launch the winter 2023 library talks for the Camden Conference Community Events program.

Mike Lynch, former Peace Corps director in Ghana, will dig into “Gold and Global Politics: How the Financial Power of Gold Impacts Politics Past and Present,” kicking off the 2023 Community Events. Mike’s fascinating talk will be held in person on January 5 at the York Library from 2 – 3 p.m.

His talk is one of 24 events scheduled in early 2023 for libraries throughout southern, central and mid-coast Maine providing background and context for the 2023 Camden Conference, Global Trade and Politics – Managing Turbulence, to be held the weekend of February 17-19, live at the Camden Opera House and live-streamed to venues in Rockland, Belfast and Portland.

Also on Jan. 5, from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m., Robert Moore will speak via Zoom from the Portland Public Library on “Recent Developments in Global Food Security and the Challenges Ahead.”  Moore spent his career with food-related United Nations agencies and has worked in some 80 developing countries in all regions of the world.

On Jan. 10 from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the Belfast Free Library, Cipperly Good, Curator at the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, will take the helm for “Charting a Course for Global Trade” on the role of Maine-built vessels in 19th-century American global trade.

While Community Events talks are typically presented by Maine residents with expertise in topics related to the annual Conference theme, some library talks signal a bit of a departure. On January 23 at 6:30 p.m., the Consul General of Canada in Boston, Rodger Cuzner, a resident of the Bras D’Or region of Nova Scotia, will speak at the Scarborough Public Library, in person and on Zoom.

In another departure from our usual pattern, the husband-and-wife team of John and Kathleen Sutherland, instructors in the Osher Lifelong Learning program at USM will give consecutive talks, a week apart, on Zoom from the Cumberland Library on immigration and trade in the U.S. from 1800 to the present. The two-part series starts on January 10 at 6:30 p.m.  The same series will take place in person in Kennebunk starting Jan. 30.

The Camden Conference 2022-23 community events program kicked off in early fall with regularly scheduled talks at Camden and Rockland libraries.  You may see Maine State Economist Amanda Rector’s Rockland Public Library talk on “Demography and the Future of Maine’s Economy” on the CC website.  Mike Lynch’s talk on gold was recorded in the Camden library and is also on the website.

Two libraries new to our series are off to a good start. The beautiful new Rockport Public Library will host “Climate and Trade” on January 19, and the Bath Public Library will be the venue for a talk on “Space: The Race for the Final Frontier” on February 8.

In another exciting new development, the Scarborough, York, Cumberland and Bath libraries are cooperating to present CC events jointly.  More details to come.

Visit camdenconference.org/events or the websites of individual libraries for more information on the many excellent talks set for January and February. Some will be on Zoom, so accessible whatever your location.

You’ll get even more out of the 2023 Camden Conference by attending these fascinating talks. Many thanks to our generous speakers for volunteering their time and expertise! Many talks scheduled in late 2022 have been recorded and can be watched on the Conference website under “Events/View Past Events” or on the website of the library where the event originated.