Elgin library among 8 in nation to host space exhibit
Elgin's Gail Borden Public Library was selected among only eight across the nation to host a three-month, space-related traveling exhibit.
"Discover Space: Exploring Our Solar System and Beyond" will make stops across the country from April 2016 through March 2018. It's still unknown when the exhibit will be in Elgin. An announcement will be made by Aug. 15, said Lainie Castle of the American Library Association's public programs office.
The exhibit will feature nine interactive units, including a 42-inch touch-table with astronomy games and simulations, a meteorite collection including a 10-pound rock, a solar monitoring station, a "mission to Mars" kiosk, and hands-on, interactive components such as a station where people can put on costumes, step in front of a green screen and give solar system weather reports.
There are two other traveling exhibits - "Discover Earth" and "Discover Tech" - going to other libraries nationwide and offered by ALA's public programs office, which received 93 proposals altogether, Castle said. Gail Borden was the only library selected in Illinois.
"It really is a competitive program, in the sense that we are looking for the best plans in terms of giving it the best chance of success," Castle said.
Selection criteria included proposals for programming, attendance prospects and availability of local partnerships, she said.
Kate Burlett, director of visual arts and exhibits at Gail Borden, said there will be a host of programs, including a night for teachers to plan student tours and "starry night" shows at the Elgin Area School District U-46 planetarium.
The library has been working with Northern Illinois University's engineering department for programming and also plans to partner with Discovery Center Museum in Rockford to bring additional interactive stations, she said. "It's going to be very exciting," Burlett said.
The exhibit is valued at $125,000 and comes with $1,000 for programming, library spokeswoman Denise Raleigh said. The library likely will enhance that with fundraising, she said.
"We want to make sure our exhibit enhances learning objectives for our local students," she said.
Among the special events planned at Gail Borden is a presentation by Hal Getzelman, who works as capsule communicator chief engineer for NASA in Houston.
An Elgin High School graduate, Getzelman was instrumental in setting up a live radio chat between young library patrons and astronauts on the International Space Station in 2007, when Gail Borden hosted another space-related exhibit. It will be difficult to set up something similar again, but he'll give it a try nonetheless, Getzelman said.
Getzelman said he expects "Discover Space" to pique young people's interest in STEM - science, technology, engineering and math.
"You can do a lot on the Internet today, and you can learn a lot by watching TV, but having an exhibit with hands-on (features) is something that's not available to a lot of kids," he said. "Having artifacts and different things that flew in space - those are very effective."
Career opportunities in the space field are increasing thanks to the private sector, through initiatives like building space vehicles for crews and supplies, and plans to take tourists onto suborbital space flights, Getzelman said.
Funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, the exhibit is part of the STAR Library Education Network led by the National Center for Interactive Learning at the Space Science Institute. Partners include the Lunar and Planetary Institute and the Afterschool Alliance.