Cornerstones of Science

New Videos Aim to Help Librarians Build Interest in Science

Libraries are perfect places for helping people find information they are looking for, but how do people use the library to realize new interests? Watch a new video, How to Build Science Interest Among Library Patrons in Seven Steps: Interest Development Strategies in Public Libraries, produced by Cornerstones of Science that focuses on a specific way libraries can help patrons gain new and unrealized interests.

Helping patrons in this way can bring people back to a library more often as they seek additional information on a theme. This can ultimately attract more people to library programs and events based on a topic or associated themes. The video and the recently published research article “Exploring How Public Libraries Can Build Situational Interest in Science” in the April 7, 2021 peer-reviewed journal, Journal for Library Administration, demonstrate the psychology of interest and the pilot research project that was conducted as part of the NASA@ My Library project from 2019-2020 through Cornerstones of Science, Space Science Institute’s National Center for Interactive Learning, Northern Illinois University, Tom Green County Public Library in San Angelo, TX, Show Low Public Library in AZ, and the Gwinnett County Public Library Lawrenceville Branch in GA.

Visit the Cornerstones of Science YouTube page for more how-to videos, STEM stories from librarians, archived librarian training webinars, and more.

Get Ready for Summer with Rev Up The Fun

RevUptheFun.org, an online STEM inventory for kids is expanding, thanks to great interest, and is a wonderful tool for keeping students engaged in learning over the summer months ahead. The REV Up The Fun website houses a large and growing collection of online science activities, videos, and resources for kids aged 6-12 on the topics of space, energy, environment, and wellness. “These science-based activities were designed to be done at home using simple household materials, and they’re downloadable for free,” said Sarah Post, Program and Library Support Manager at Cornerstones of Science, which helped develop the new program.

With limited in-person events and programs due to COVID, these types of well-designed online STEM activities are needed more than ever, Post noted.

What’s New

New companion videos are being added on a regular basis, and a brand new series with hands-on environmental activities will start showing up in July. All the videos are shot by Maine AmeriCorps volunteers who are working with Maine Campus Compact, Cornerstones of Science, and other service projects in Maine.

“The videos are extremely well done and there’s a ‘cool factor’ for kids because the AmeriCorps volunteers are young and very approachable,” said Post.

The Rev Up The Fun science-based activities are designed to encourage at-home learning and to combat the challenge of “summer slide” and other learning losses that occur during this past year.

For the latest new video, see the new activity: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Revupthefun.org is available for free to families across the US. In Maine, Cornerstones and Maine Campus Compact are working with a few Maine Department of Education Summer Food Distribution sites to distribute the activity sheet (seen on the website) in printed form along with in-person demonstrations of the activities at a few of the sites.

Cornerstones offers two inviting ways for library patrons to view the night sky

If COVID taught us anything at all, it was that people are clamoring to get outside. And they are finding all sorts of way to do it. Even at night.

Over the last 12 months, public interest in telescopes, astronomy, and the night sky has surged beyond recognition. According to a recent article in Sky & Telescope Magazine, telescope manufacturers are reporting an unprecedented surge in sales, with some manufacturers seeing 60 to 400 percent increases over last year.

According to Sarah Post, Program and Library Support Manager at Cornerstones of Science, sales of library telescopes picked up late last fall during COVID and have remained strong right through the spring. “We now have over 500 telescopes in 32 states across America, and interest continues to build,” says Post, noting that a new online map shows the wide distribution of Cornerstones telescopes across the country and offers an easy way to purchase a telescope online.

Since not every family has the financial resources or the ability to buy their own telescope, the ultimate goal of the Cornerstones Library Telescope Program is to allow library patrons to check out a telescope, just as they would a book, and to take that telescope home and explore the wonders of the night sky. Not only that, but there are also family-friendly Night Sky Binocular Backpack Kits that can offer library patrons hours of night sky enjoyment.

Night Sky Binocular Packpack with additional books

The Night Sky Backpack Kits Now Available

The Night Sky Binocular Backpack Kits are an easy and affordable STEM item for libraries to circulate, and are designed to keep patrons interested in space science for years to come. The kits, developed by Cornerstones, come in a handy bright-orange backpack and they are one in a collection of STEM items available on the Cornerstones website.

Included in The Night Sky Backpack Kit:

• a pair of 7×50 Celestron binoculars
• a constellation finder
• a switchable white- and red-light headlamp
• Two books: Audubon Pocket Constellation Guide and The Secret Galaxy by Fran Hodgkins
• Short quick start guides on how to use the items in the backpack
• Everything fits nicely into a bright orange backpack.

Bottom Line

Your library can be a great resource for the surging demand in resources for telescopes and night sky viewing. If your library is looking for a few great STEM related items to excite your library patrons, visit the cornerstones website or contact Sarah Post by emailing: sarah.post@cornerstonesofscience.org