Partnering and Professional Development
You don't have to be an environmental educator to bring programs to the library. There are many potential partners who can help. Look to the experts at your local universities and community colleges. Check the cooperative extensions in your community, the local garden club, environmental clubs, zoos, and nature parks. Melanie Buckingham (you met her in the video on the home page) also suggested that getting on advisory boards such as your local cooperative extension can be a very good way of networking and being aware of community resources that you can tap. Dr. L. David Lankes, professor and Dean’s Scholar for the New Librarianship at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies and director of the Information Institute of Syracuse, argues that public librarians cannot be experts in everything and that includes, of course, informal STEM education. However, he strongly believes that librarians make things happen and that in terms of STEM learning in the library, the community is the collection and that the role of the librarian is to tap into those resources in providing valuable STEM learning experiences for their patrons. For more on Dave's thinking, read his white paper which he recently delivered at Public Libraries & STEM: A National Conference on Current Trends and Future Directions held in Denver, Colorado in August 2015.
If you happen to be a nature enthusiast and interested in learning more about environmental education yourself, you can look into the possibility of becoming a certified environmental educator. The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (N.C.DENR) takes environmental education seriously. Under the N.C.DENR is the Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs (NC EE). This office offers individuals the opportunity to pursue certification on a part-time basis with wonderful workshops, outdoor learning experiences, and more. You have fully four years to complete all the requirements which is certainly a reasonable amount of time for those of us with full time jobs. To learn about the criteria for certification and to watch an excellent video including interviews with individuals who have completed the training, go to: http://www.eenorthcarolina.org/index.asp and learn more about this wonderful professional development opportunity! Even if you are not interested in certification at this time, joining the NC EE Listserv would keep you up to date on what's happening in the state.
Image used with Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License: Link
You don't have to be an environmental educator to bring programs to the library. There are many potential partners who can help. Look to the experts at your local universities and community colleges. Check the cooperative extensions in your community, the local garden club, environmental clubs, zoos, and nature parks. Melanie Buckingham (you met her in the video on the home page) also suggested that getting on advisory boards such as your local cooperative extension can be a very good way of networking and being aware of community resources that you can tap. Dr. L. David Lankes, professor and Dean’s Scholar for the New Librarianship at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies and director of the Information Institute of Syracuse, argues that public librarians cannot be experts in everything and that includes, of course, informal STEM education. However, he strongly believes that librarians make things happen and that in terms of STEM learning in the library, the community is the collection and that the role of the librarian is to tap into those resources in providing valuable STEM learning experiences for their patrons. For more on Dave's thinking, read his white paper which he recently delivered at Public Libraries & STEM: A National Conference on Current Trends and Future Directions held in Denver, Colorado in August 2015.
If you happen to be a nature enthusiast and interested in learning more about environmental education yourself, you can look into the possibility of becoming a certified environmental educator. The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (N.C.DENR) takes environmental education seriously. Under the N.C.DENR is the Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs (NC EE). This office offers individuals the opportunity to pursue certification on a part-time basis with wonderful workshops, outdoor learning experiences, and more. You have fully four years to complete all the requirements which is certainly a reasonable amount of time for those of us with full time jobs. To learn about the criteria for certification and to watch an excellent video including interviews with individuals who have completed the training, go to: http://www.eenorthcarolina.org/index.asp and learn more about this wonderful professional development opportunity! Even if you are not interested in certification at this time, joining the NC EE Listserv would keep you up to date on what's happening in the state.
Image used with Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License: Link