How Literature Could Generate Community in Tulsa - Paper Example

For more than 200 years in Tulsa, libraries have served the purpose of opening up the new world and offering people different worldview for those who want to access information but unable to. Tulsas central library has taken the local government over $55 million to renovate and revitalize some of the resources to ensure that people can have unlimited resources whenever they need to (Duncan 2). Many people have not embraced literature despite the potential that it has among the local community. Literature has a significant role to play in promoting development in the society. Even though the policymakers and the people of Tulsa have not realized the significance of literature, the potentials around the city make it a suitable and effective for literary events. This paper seeks to examine the ways in which literature can be used to generate community.

Tulsa city is equipped with many features that can support literary events. For instance, the book centers, museums, and many other institutions including the university that can be used to help promote literature in the city and across Oklahoma at large. Some of the key literary events that can be supported by the above-mentioned institutions include poetry and drama. Tulsa is a metropolitan city with a strong social and economic links with the local people and its neighbors. Tulsa is also called the green country due to its tourism designations. All these events make the city potential to support literary events such as drama and poetry. Apart from the features, Tulsa also has more suitable resources that can support the literary events mentioned above. For instance, the theater and concert groups such as Tulsa Ballet can help lay the background for creating a literary city that every member is happy to be part of. Weese explains that the people of Tulsa have shown the remarkable love of literature through various attempts to introduce it in the city. Some of the establishments such as Booksmart Tulsa have already created the idea of literature across the city (Weese 1). The author explains that when the Booksmart was opened in 2014, the pioneers Jeff Martin and the comedian B.J. Novak thought that few people could have turned up. However, they were surprised to see over 400 people showing up at the event (Weese 2). This is a clear indication that literature has potential to survive as long as it can be nurtured and supported just like any other event in the city. Therefore, I think that poetry performance and drama are some of the literary events that can perform well in Tulsa especially when starting to introduce something that has not grown like the other social events.

Literature can be incorporated into the community institutions and venues in various ways. Tulsa holds one of the oldest resident professional theaters in entire Oklahoma, American Theater Company which can significantly help in bringing up the talents that emerge in the region. Tulsa is also a home to many festivals and cultural activities that can help further the integration of the literature into the community. Many people attend these festivals such as Myfest, the Blue Dome Arts Festival, Jazz festival and many others. As a result, they are able to get the opportunity to experience something new and inspiring as poetry and drama or plays. Poetry is part of the music and it is easy to incorporate it during the music festivals like the jazz festival. Further, Tulsa has one of the earliest and oldest universities that was established in the early 1900s, Roberts University. Apart from the Roberts University, there are over 14 higher learning institutions that can help grow and nurture good talents in literature.

Literature is part of the community and society as a whole. Therefore, giving literary events or institutions to grow through infrastructural development is equally promoting the development in the society (Bayard 4). The good thing with literature as part of the community is that people are able to relate and feel its impacts directly, unlike the other programs or government projects that aim at promoting developments but the people are unable to feel the change. Empowering literature in the universities and other higher learning institutions in Tulsa can help create a good background for the future developments (Rose et al. 12). Literature can be incorporated in these institutions through the curriculum. The institutions can design a curriculum that supports literary events or practices as part of the institutions learning programs.

Tulsa has much potential that can support the development of literature and other community developments as well. Creating change through arts and other literary events can help support community development. Rose, Daniel, and Liu explain the importance of arts and culture in creating community change and equitable development. The authors argue that arts and culture can help bridge the gap that has existed between the equitable development and community-centered arts and cultural practices (Rose et al. 14). Promoting the development of literature will unite and strengthen the equity impacts in Tulsa and the same can be copied across Oklahoma. Rose and the other authors argue that integration of arts in the community has shown remarkable and significant transformative and creative change. Therefore, incorporating arts and culture as elements of literature in the community will help promote community development.

Another important proposal is that in order to ensure that literature continues to thrive and grow in Tulsa; there is a need for proper and effective policing including equity policies. Some of the policies that can support the development of literature as part of the Tulsas community include equitable resource allocations. Establishing and maintaining literature requires resources. If the government had spent $55 million to renovate and revitalize the Tulsa library, it would take more than that to establish new facilities that can support literary events such as plays, drama, or poetry performance (Duncan 2). Equity policies will also empower the local people in the community to join and support literary events. Empowerment can be established through knowledge-building strategy (Hoadley 293). As a metropolitan city, Tulsa can attract people from different social, economic, religious, and racial backgrounds. Poetry and plays bring people together just like music does. Therefore, it is important to establish more equity policies to support every potential and the willing individual who want to take part in literature.

Promoting literature means that the community is able to have entertainment anytime they wish. Therefore, the community needs to imagine that literature is part of them and their asset that they need to protect and support. This can be done through promotion and involvement of the local people. If the government chooses to establish literary institutions then the local people should be made part of that event or program. This will motivate and make them feel the sense of belonging and ownership. Therefore, giving the local young people who have talents in various literary activities or events may be given the opportunity to showcase what they got. When the community sees that their people are supported by the programs they will have no other option but to give it their total support.

Communal strength is associated with different feelings and attitudes including the sense of ownership and involvement. The community relates and resonates with the projects or development programs that they feel that will consider their needs. Therefore, they will show the supportive attitude towards such programs. Literary programs can also help create the sense of involvement in the community. This means that literary concepts need to consider the needs of the community. Literary events can involve the activities or events that can well resonate with the local people. For instance, the poems or plays can be constructed based on the challenges or issues that Tulsa people experience. However, this can be done well by someone who has lived in the area or is a resident of the city. The community will only be able to support the programs or projects that they feel that supports their desires or ambitions.

Literature is an essential part of the community that helps reflect the events that happen in the society. Literature helps people understand their environment and other aspects of development in a better way. Therefore, implementing the above proposals will help Tulsa develop in terms of cultural, social, and economic growth. Social and cultural development aspects can be realized through the integration of literature in the societal events or activities. For instance, involving literary events during the cultural festivals helps the community integrate well with the literature pieces. Economically, literature assists to earn the local people revenues. For instance, when people pay to watch poetry or drama performance it helps the performers earn something and also the local government which earns through taxes. These proposals or solutions to integrate literature in Tulsa will help the community resonate better and effectively with the literary development programs.

To conclude, integrating literature in Tulsa community will help bring new changes in the way people live and relate to the literary events. This paper has examined how literature could generate community in Tulsa by highlighting some of the literary events that should take place in Tulsa and how they can help promote the development of the community. Effective implementation of the proposed solutions or proposals will not only help the community integrate with literature but also bridge the gap in the social and economic aspects.

Works Cited

Bayard, Madeleine. "State Efforts to Promote Reading and Literary Activities in Communities, National Governors Association Center for Best Practices: Issue Brief." A Policy and Practice Primer, (2006).

Duncan, Tiffany. Literature and Learning. Preview. Accessed on December 12, 2017 from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiFlLP4jIXYAhXMWBQKHfUgCAMQFghNMAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.preview918.com%2Freads%2Fliterature-and-learning&usg=AOvVaw0fT7sbDJi7DAt3Kg-vTwV-

Hoadley, Christopher. "12 What is a Community of Practice and How Can We Support It?." Theoretical foundations of learning environments (2012): 286.

Rose, Kilima., Daniel, Milly., and Liu, Jeremy. "Creating change through arts, culture, and equitable development: a policy and practice primer. PolicyLink." NGA Center for Best Practices, (2017).

Weese, Beth. A Love of Literature and Tulsa. Oklahoma Magazine. Accessed on December 12, 2017 from http://www.okmag.com/2015/08/27/a-love-of-literature-and-tulsa/