McKenzie County ND

Horizons has added a wonderful collection of materials to the McKenzie County Library. The book titles below will address community leadership, poverty reduction, entrepreneurship and self improvement. You will find them to be inspiring, enlightening and some will also be quite humorous! A couple curriculums, DVD’s, lessons for groups, and children’s books are included. Please request the McKenzie County Horizons library to check out these books titles and other materials:

The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus
Making Vision Stick
The Traveler’s Gift
Leadership Gold: Lessons I’ve Learned from a Lifetime of Learning by John C. Maxwell
The Quilt Makers Gift
The Quilt Makers Journey
8 Challenges Facing Community Leaders
Who Moved My Cheese?
Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs To Know
Attitude 101: What Every Leader Needs To Know
Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make The Lead…and Other Don’t
Smart Communities: How Citizens and Local Leaders Can Use Strategic Thinking To Build a Brighter Future
The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You
Rural Communities Legacy + Change: Third Edition
Your Field Guide To Community Building
The Magic of Thinking Big
Blink
The Tipping Point
The Power of Positive Thinking
Leading Without Power: Finding Hope In Serving Community
Everyday Creativity: Leader’s Guide, Workbook and DVD
6 Myths About The Future of Small Towns
Better Schools Through Public Engagement
Better Local Leadership: How To Start a Program For Your Town or County
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People–DVD
Establishing A Shared-Use Commerical Kitchen
Who, Me Lead a Group?
Vision To Action: Take Change Too Curriculum
The Entrepreneurial Community: A Strategic Leadership Appraoch To Community Survival resources material
The Leader In You: How To Win Friends, Influence People and Succeed In a Changing World
Do Something In Your Community
Energizing Entrepreneurs: Charting a Course for Rural Communities
Turning To One Another: Simple Conversations To Restore Home To The Future
A Framework For Understanding Poverty
Bridges Out of Poverty
Oh, The Places You’ll Go! (children’s book)
Getting Ahead In a Just-Gettin’–By Wolrd: Building Your Resources for a Better Life
Stone Soup (children’s book)

Striving to improve living conditions for families and individuals who struggle with poverty. Searching for proven or emerging approaches to reduce the numbers of people who struggle on a daily basis–long term.

These were underlying themes for the business and political leaders and nonprofit organizations and government service providers, including many Horizons program volunteers and staff who attended the Grassroots and Groundwork conference in Minneapolis May 28 to 30.

For me the experience was eye-opening and inspiring, to say the least.

One of the most interesting things I learned more about was social capital. Social capital, the relational foundation of a community, consists of trust, connections (networks), and involvement (action).

Strength of communities rests on the relationships we have with one another. Research has shown that communities with a strong foundation of trust between and among different individuals and groups are healthier and thrive economically and educationally.

These types of networks are an important part of social capital in communities:

Bonding Networks — close ties that help people to get by. These connections are usually with family, friends and neighbors.

Bridging Networks — weaker ties that can help people to get ahead and gain opportunities. These connections are usually with people who are different from themselves, who have different types of networks.

Linking Networks — Links to organizations and systems that can help people gain resources and bring about broader change. These connections are usually with organizations that have resources, both within and outside of the community.

Take a look at the social capital in your community. It will help you learn a lot about yourselves today and into the future!