Proponents of deliberative democracy have theorized that in order to contribute to improved decisionmaking, citizens should aim for high levels of inclusion, participation equality, and reciprocal, rational reasoning when they convene to discuss policy issues. To measure the extent to which these goals are achieved in actual practice, the authors analyzed transcripts from 13 public forums on the topic of broadband access in rural communities. Demographic attributes of participants were compared with their utterances during deliberation, coded by five quality variables: justification rationality, common good orientation, constructive politics, interactivity, and consideration of trade-offs. Analysis showed that turnout, quantity and quality of discourse varied significantly across different socioeconomic groups. For example, individuals with college education were more likely to provide higher levels of justification, alternative and mediating proposals, and consideration of the common good compared to those without college education. Non-salaried participants expressed the lowest level of justification for their arguments and showed significantly less interactivity with other participants. Addressing these differences requires greater effort by forum organizers to prepare participants through repeated, sequential forum experiences.

A B S T R A C TAccess to high-speed ðbroadbandÞ Internet in public libraries requires a well-informed public to advocate, particularly in periods of government funding reductions and rapid technical and regulatory change. Libraries are encouraged by the National Broadband Plan to facilitate public inquiry on this issue by holding participatory forums. To collect evidence of the potential public response to library-led forums on this topic using a deliberative protocol, researchers conducted pre-and postforum surveys and content-analyzed recorded transcripts from thirteen library forums in north central Kansas. Results show positive influences of deliberation on participants' information seeking, political self-efficacy, subsequent issue advocacy, and general satisfaction with the forum experience. Public issues are by nature contentious and complex, featuring multiple stakeholders, competing values, and topical knowledge beyond the immediate experience of many citizens. Today's libraries offer information-seeking tools, access to online resources, and research assistance to help patrons locate and read ðor view, or listen toÞ an enlarged universe of information on any public issue. Private reading alone, however, does not constitute public engagement,

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