BIDDEFORD — Youth with be the focus of a forum to take place at the McArthur Public Library on Tuesday.

The forum is part of “Let’s Talk Local,” a program of the Maine Humanities Council.

Tuesday’s event will bring youth and adults together to talk about issues important to today’s young people, and both children and adults are encouraged to attend.

Biddeford is one of 10 places where this pilot program is taking place, said MHC spokeswoman Julia Walkling, with each community having its own focus.

Each of the events starts with the reading of a text, she said, which can be anything from a story to a poem.

“When discussion is focused on a text,” said Walkling, “it frees people up to talk, because they’re not focused on themselves.”

In this case, the text will be a slideshow by Matt Dubois, a Biddeford High School graduate in his 20s who decided to stay and build his future in Biddeford rather than leaving the city after graduating.

In addition, another young person and an adult will talk about their experiences living in Biddeford.

The decision to use the project to discuss youth came about during a meeting with Mayor Alan Casavant, several members of the city council, clergy members and representatives from social service organizations.

“There was a clear consensus everyone was thinking it should focus on what it’s like growing up in Biddeford,” said McArthur Assistant Director Sally Leahey.

While the adults had ideas of what some of the issues for young people are, said McArthur Teen Librarian Brooke Faulkner, the group decided they should talk to youth to get their sense of the issues as well.

In November, Richard Barnes, a retired school superintendent and college dean, sat down with two groups of students, one from Biddeford Middle School and one from Biddeford High School.

They discussed, he said, “What Biddeford could do to make it a better place for (youth) and their families.”

“A lot of problems were brought forward by the kids,” said Barnes. “A lot, not all, grew up in troubled neighborhoods.”

But most had the same suggestion, he said, “of a revitalized downtown as a place to make Biddeford more family-friendly.”

Barnes, who lives in Portland, said, “I get the sense people believe Biddeford is on the cusp of taking off as a vibrant city once again.”

The students “talked a lot about their image of Biddeford,” said Leahey, “and wishing there was a better image of Biddeford.”

They also discussed what businesses and agencies could do to work together to improve the image and the downtown, said Faulkner.

“I wasn’t expecting ideas that were as sophisticated” as what the students came up with, she said.

Tuesday’s event will be a chance for young people and adults to talk about what it’s like for Biddeford youth. The idea isn’t to come up with solutions at the end of the evening, said Faulkner. But she said the event would launch further conversations about ways to improve the situation for youth in Biddeford.

With the completion of the pilot program, said Walkling, the humanities council will analyze the program with the hope of using it as a model for starting discussions about important issues in other communities.

Let’s Talk Local: What’s Up? will take place Tuesday from 6-7:30 p.m. at the McArthur Public Library, 270 Main St., Biddeford.

For more information, call Faulkner or Leahey at 284-4181.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.