by Christina Stoll, MLS

You’d have to try hard to miss one of the giant billboards around Chicago promoting the new Great Bear Wilderness exhibit at Brookfield Zoo (http://www.czs.org/czs/Brookfield/Zoo-Home.aspx). However, you may not be aware of related events and activities planned at two MLS Public Libraries. 

According to a May 13 Zoo press release, “The Language of Conservation” is an initiative between Poets House and a consortium of five zoos and libraries in Chicago, New Orleans, Little Rock, Jacksonville, and Milwaukee. This two-year project is funded by a $1 million National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Brookfield Public Library and the Riverside Public Library, Brookfield Zoo neighbors, were natural partners for this project. Each library installed its own mini Language of Conservation and committed to conservation education programming.

Zoo press release May 13, 2010

“Brookfield Zoo is partnering with Poets House, the national literary center and poetry library headquartered in New York, to help zoo guests deepen their awareness about conservation through poetry. The project, called The Language of Conservation, was launch at the zoo’s new Great Bear Wilderness exhibit on Saturday, May 22.

This partnership between poetry and science began as a successful program developed by Poets House and the Wildlife Conservation Society, incorporating poetry into wildlife exhibits at Central Park Zoo in New York City. Through that project, Wildlife Conservation Society researchers discovered that the use of poetry installations made zoo visitors dramatically more aware of the impact humans have on ecosystems. At the zoo’s 7.5-acre Great Bear Wilderness exhibit, 38 featured poems are artistically installed in a variety of media, such as carved in wood, sandblasted in rockwork, stenciled on acrylic, painted on sidewalks, and digitally printed on translucent Plexiglas. A line of poetry, a stanza, or an entire verse blend into the exhibit’s naturalistic landscape and offer readers a deeper insight into animals, Brookfield Zoo, and conservation. Images of some of the poems at Brookfield Zoo’s Great Bear Wilderness exhibit may be downloaded at www.CZS.org/pressroom.

The opening ceremony at the zoo included poetry readings by Sandra Alcosser, Brookfield Zoo’s poet-in-residence, and Joseph Bruchac, a poet and children’s book author, and the opportunity to view the Great Bear Wilderness exhibit. Additional events were planned at both libraries throughout the project’s kick off weekend. ‘Through our partners at Poets House and poet-in-residence Sandra Alcosser, we are helping our guests reflect on the environment and wildlife conservation on a deeper, more emotional level.  In fact, we think The Language of Conservation is a shared dialogue that communicates the essence of wildlife and nature to scientists, conservationists, poets, and everyone in between,’ said Dan Wharton, Ph.D., senior vice president of conservation science for the Chicago Zoological Society and co-creator of The Language of Conservation Alcosser, a professor at San Diego State University and Montana’s first poet laureate, collaborated with Society staff, including exhibit designers, and with wildlife biologists to select the 38-piece conservation canon. This body of poetry enhances the storyline of Great Bear Wilderness and embodies the Society’s mission of inspiring conservation leaders by connecting people with wildlife and nature.

‘Poetry calls into question what it means to be human. It expands the imagination of a culture and suggests ways to become more humane and deeply engaged with the world,’ said Alcosser, who curates the six-acre, installation at Central Park Zoo in collaboration with Wharton.
Zoos and aquariums represent some of the most popular cultural institutions in cities across the United States, attracting more than 150 million visitors each year. During recent decades, they have become one of the most important forces in environmental education, conservation of biodiversity, animal welfare, and global sustainability.”

Photos of the Great Bear Wilderness Exhibit.

Thanks goes to Casey Schulke, Brookfield Zoo Interpretive Program Coordinator and Interpretive Writer. As liaison between to the libraries, Casey has contributed much towards the success of this project.

Brookfield Public Library (http://www.brookfieldpubliclibrary.info)

Library Director Kimberly Litland shares her library’s plans for the program that began with a gym shoe gardening program by their youth services department.


Brookfield Public Library's Shoe Garden.

Children bring a set of shoes to make two plants, leave one at the library and take one home with them.  The library staff will partner with a local senior resident at the British Home to tend the plants over the summer.  A future planting date is planned to transfer the plants to Brookfield Zoo, their final home. Check out more pictures on thier Flicker account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/36819620@N00/sets/72157623888608971.

Sandra Alcosser conducted a poetry reading on May 21st at the library as part of the Language of Conservation Project kickoff weekend.  A variety of other programs are in the works.

]
Poetry reading at Brookfield Public Library with library board president, Director Kim Litland, poet Sandra Alcosser, Dan Wharton, and Casey Schulke.

The Brookfield Library is also looking forward to its rain barrel decorating programs scheduled for late summer or early fall.  Hopefully, some barrels will be displayed outside the library.  Others may be auctioned off at the Annual Taste of Brookfield @ Your Library fundraiser on Friday, October 1, 2010.  Throughout the summer the library has project-related programs including a nature walk at Brookfield’s Oak Savanna led by the town’s Conservation Commission. To keep informed of future events visit the library’s online calendar at http://www.brookfieldpubliclibrary.info/calendar.

“Inspiration” is how Kim sums up her library’s role in this project. “We’re confident the partnership will increase our visitor’s awareness of how their daily actions impact the environment by way of the powerful verses on display at both the library and at the Zoo.  I heard it said somewhere that this inspiration and learning about conservation through a project like this happens passively. The inspirational poetry plants a seed, perhaps even somewhat unconsciously, and hopefully will impact the thinking of each individual as they consider their part in the conservation equation. The library looks forward to all of the activities and to learning and seeing for ourselves the extent to which language can impact behavior“.




Photos and poetry on the walls at the Brookfield Public Library.

Riverside Public Library (http://www.riversidelibrary.org)

Library Director Janice F. Fisher states that since the installation of the poetry as part of the Language of Conservation Project, the library has taken on a totally new feel. 

“From the moment you walk in, you have a bird's eye view to the poetry and statements on our walls and you are drawn into following the words where they lead. Starting at our entrance and winding through the atrium and continuing down through the Youth Services Department, it creates a poetic tour of the library.”




Poetry on the walls of the Riverside Public Librayr's Youth Services Department.

Patrons have been totally absorbed by the installation. Children are especially drawn to the fiberglass Polar Bear gracing the library’s Great Hall, on loan from the Zoo. 


Fiberglass Polar Bear on loan at Riverside Public Library and real polar bear at Brookfield Zoo in the Great Bear Wilderness Exhibit.

Thanks to a generous donation from the Poets House the library purchased many poetry books, specifically those of poets included in the Zoo’s installations. This program has positively impacted the library and community by increasing its poetry collection and stimulating circulation of this type of material.

Riverside Library also held activities for the program’s kick off weekend, May 22nd. In addition they tied in their Summer Reading to the project with the theme “Splash into Reading” to coordinate with the Polar Bear, nature and conservation theme. 

Three upcoming programs include;

• All about Turtles, June 3, 2010.
• The Des Plaines River A Forest Preserve Program, June 15, 2010, 7:00 p.m.
• All about Water, July 27, 2010, 1:15 p.m. 

Check out all upcoming events on their calendar at http://host5.evanced.info/riverside/evanced/eventcalendar.asp.

A temporary installation on the library’s front lawn and garden includes five copper hanging signs.  The tallest sign explains about the project and the other four, scattered throughout the landscape, feature poetry by children, the winners and runners up in the Fredrick Law Olmsted Society's Reflections on Riverside Poetry Contest. 

Poetry on the front lawn at Riverside Public Library. The library staff, Director Janice Fisher and Casey Schulke at the Great Bear Wilderness Exhibit.

Partnerships within the Riverside community will also be part of this project, including shared programming with the Riverside Garden Club, the Sprouts (Junior Gardeners), and the SEEDS Recycling and Environment group.  Follow along through the library’s Flicker photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/riversidelibrary/sets/72157624102535874.

Questions or comments about this article or the Language of Conservation Project contact consultants@mls.lib.il.us.

Published June 9, 2010 in vol. 4, iss. 11 [View]