The Ames Public Library will be uniting Iowans from all different backgrounds tomorrow.

People from all across Iowa will be joining together to celebrate Iowa Humanities Day.

The event sponsored by the Ames Public Library and the Iowa Humanities Board, brings together all of Iowa in a celebration of “the human journey.”

The annual event travels to different Iowa cities each year making its way to Ames.

This year, Dr. Benjamin Barber will be featured as the guest lecturer. Barber holds the Walt Whitman Chair of political science at Rutgers University.

He is the author of 10 books dealing with the topics of democracy and citizenship, politics, culture, education and society.

Rick Knupfer, the executive director for the Iowa Humanities Board (IHB), said this year’s lecture marks the 25th Anniversary of the IHB which sponsors a number of speakers throughout the year. Knupfer said this is the biggest lecture of the year.

“We sponsor all of the Humanities programs that are public,” Knupfer said.

He went on to say that they also provide funding for speakers at non-profit organizations through grants.

“This lecture allows us to explore the questions that bring us together as Americans,” Knupfer said. “It asks who are we as Americans? Do we have more in common as Americans, or as diverse peoples?”

Barber’s lecture will bring to a close the Ames Public Library’s National Endowment for the Humanities project “Divided Selves, United States.”

During this project the library has presented a series of conversations and book/video discussions exploring different aspects of pluralism and identity.

Knupfer said that Barber’s lecture will provide perfect closure to the evening.

The Ames Library’s series, which began in December 1995, consisted of six core programs along with 12 book/video discussions.

Barber’s speech will focus on the topics in his new book “Jahid Versus McWorld,” a critical study on the corrosive effects of tribalism and markets on democracy.

The events kick off at 3:30 p.m. with “A Dialogue with Benjamin Barber” in Room 302 of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center.

That will be followed at 7 p.m. by the presentation of the 1995 Iowa Humanities Awards and Barber’s lecture titled “Identity in the era of Jahid and the McWorld.”

The evening program will be held at the City of Ames Auditorium. All events are free and open to the public.