C-SPAN to profile Coeur d’Alene

Coeur d’Alene’s history and literary life – yes, it has a literary life – will be featured on C-SPAN in December.

A production team from the public affairs TV network will be in the Lake City next week to visit literary and historic sites and interview local historians, authors and civic leaders. Details will be revealed Monday at a kickoff event with Mayor Sandi Bloem at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library.

The North Idaho stop is part of C-SPAN’s 2013 Cities Tour, in partnership with Time Warner Cable, that takes the network’s nonfiction Book TV and American History TV programs on the road.

“Through our Cities Tour it’s a great way to make these smaller cities accessible to the rest of the country and also shine a light to the people who already live there on what they might not know about their own communities,” said Ashley Hill, a C-SPAN producer.

The Book TV stories from Coeur d’Alene will air Dec. 7 at 9 a.m. Pacific on C-SPAN2 . The American History TV stories from Coeur d’Alene will air Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. Pacific on C-SPAN3 .

C-SPAN representatives will reveal the stories and segments they will explore here Monday at 1 p.m. in the community room at the library, 702 E. Front Ave., next to City Hall.

In partnership with Time Warner, C-SPAN also will conduct community and educational outreach during the four-day stay, including visits to schools and a presentation to the City Council on Tuesday night.

“We like to really get to know a community and become a part of that community while we’re there,” Hill said.

Other cities on this year’s tour include Santa Fe, N.M.; Yuma, Ariz.; Carson City, Nev.; and Billings and Helena. Bellingham will be featured in early January, followed by Olympia in early February and Salem in early March.