The ALA Public Programs Office, in partnership with the National Center for Interactive Learning at Space Science Institute, the Lunar and Planetary Institute and the National Girls Collaborative Project, announces a new traveling exhibition opportunity for public libraries. Following a competitive application process, 10 public libraries will be selected to host an interactive exhibition called Discover Earth: A Century of Change. Online applications must be submitted to ALA by September 2 and can be found at www.ala.org/discoverearth.
Discover Earth is made possible through the support of the National Science Foundation. The exhibition and its educational support materials and outreach opportunities are part of the STAR (Science-Technology Activities and Resources) Library Education Network (STAR_Net), a hands-on learning program for libraries and their communities.
The Discover Earth exhibition will focus on local earth science topics—such as weather, water cycle, and ecosystem changes—as well as a global view of our changing planet. The primary message of the exhibition is that the global environment changes – and is changed by – the local environment of all exhibition hosts’ communities. Interactive, multimedia displays will allow exhibit visitors to interact with digital information in a dynamic way, encouraging new perspectives on our planet.
Discover Earth will tour from January 2012 to December 2013, visiting each of the 10 selected sites for a period of eight weeks. The exhibition requires approximately 500-750 square feet of space for optimal display. Each site will be awarded a grant of $1,000 to support public programs related to the exhibition. Each host library will be asked to join a national Community of Practice (CoP), accessible at http://community.discoverexhibits.org. For more information about Discover Earth, STAR_Net and the CoP, visit www.ala.org/discoverearth.
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ALA Public Programs Office
www.ala.org/publicprograms
publicprograms@ala.org
