Responding and coping with terrorism in the world will be the topic for discussion at an open forum Tuesday at the library.

The forum is a part of the Study Circles Project, which seeks public dialogue in the hope of generating ideas. Those ideas are often presented to city and county boards to foster positive change in communities.

"Facing the Future: How our community should respond to terrorism" will be a focused dialogue.

"It's all very set," said Julie Tufte, co-facilitator for the forum. "It's 'These are the things we're going to talk about, and this is the question,' then you respond."

Tufte said past dialogues have helped lead to changes such as getting an interpreter at the court house and creating the Welcome Center.

Even if things don't change, though, the dialogue can be healthy, she said.

The forum runs from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Austin Public Library. For more information on the Study Circles Project, visit its Web site at www.studycircles.org.

Matt Merritt can be reached at 434-2214 or by e-mail at :mailto:matt.merritt@austindailyherald.com