Robey Memorial Library to host discussion on new book written by area author Robert Wolf

Robey Memorial Library in Waukon will host a talk and discussion on Robert Wolf’s new book, "Building the Agricultural City: A Handbook for Rural Renewal," Thursday, January 18 at 6 p.m. "Building the Agricultural City" is a call for collaborative rural economic development, addressed primarily to residents of the Driftless region.

Wolf’s proposal calls for cooperation between cities and across county lines. If, instead of seeing themselves as separate entities, the towns and cities of northeast Iowa saw themselves as neighborhoods within a larger unit, they would form what Wolf calls an “agricultural city.”

“We will continue to be hammered by the global economy,” Wolf said, “if we can’t put aside rivalries and work to build a cooperative, more self-sufficient economy. We can no longer rely on state and federal grants. We have to think like the people who first settled here. They built these towns and they did it without grants. We have to relearn self-reliance.”

Copies of Wolf's book are available at Robey Memorial Library and through inter-library loan. Contact Robey Memorial Library at 563-568-4424 or www.waukon.lib.ia.us with additional questions.