The No-Cost Series Begins in Community Libraries on June 26
Bibliodiversity is a free program, presented by Wild Lives and Community Libraries of Providence (CLPVD). Participating kids in grades Kindergarten through Grade 8 will learn about the Guatemalan rainforest, investigate the secret lives of animals and learn and use skills in tracking, scientific illustration, camera trapping, and storytelling, all from their neighborhood library, or even from home. Bibliodiversity takes place 4:00P.M. – 5:00 P.M every Monday, June 26 – August 7, from CLPVD libraries, or via Zoom. Bibliodiversity is made possible in part by the RI Office of Library and Information Services and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
During the first session of the series, students will use hands-on skills to build camera mounts. A team from Wild Lives will transport the mounts to the Maya Biosphere Reserve in the Petén region of northern Guatemala and position cameras in the rainforest. On Mondays in July, the Wild Lives explorers in the rainforest and Bibliodiversity educators in the libraries will help children watch rainforest animals and facilitate live experiments, via Zoom. Each week has a different theme:
June 26: Tool Building & Rainforest Roleplay
July 3: Scouting
July 10: Map Making
July 17: Illustration
July 24: Storytelling
July 31: Librarian Recap Day
August 7: Graduation / Celebration
Alex Hornstein, Wild Lives’ President, said “ If you don’t know that the rainforest exists, you won’t care about it or want to protect it. It is very important that programs like Bibliodiversity are free and accessible, which is why we work with Community Libraries of Providence to engage kids.”
Cheryl Space, CLPVD Library Director, agrees. “We got to know Wild Lives when they introduced our library families to local wildlife through Owl Prowl workshops in Swan Point Cemetery. CLPVD is excited to offer Bibliodiversity in addition to our summer reading program, and to make Providence children aware, not only of the beauty of the rainforest, but of the global importance of these fragile ecosystems.”
Signing up is easy! Simply go to a CLPVD library in person (Fox Point Library is temporarily closed, please go to Rochambeau or other CLPVD location), or sign up via Eventbrite.
For more information about Wild Lives, visit wildlives.world. For more about Bibliodiversity, visit clpvd.org/bibliodiversity.