The Craig County Public Library (CCPL) continues to facilitate growth and change as a vital resource for the community while supporting lifelong learning and literacy. As such, the library is excited to announce two new services to their expanding repertoire: SciStarter for Citizen Science and Beanstack!
SciStarter is an online platform for the general public’s participation in current scientific research projects. Beanstack is also an online platform for reading challenges, community reading, reading fundraisers, and a fun way to log your reading. The Craig County Public Library invites citizens to participate in citizen science projects available for the area as well as join Beanstack and choose from the available reading challenges set by Michaela Crawford, Craig County Public Library’s program coordinator and newly certified SciStarter Ambassador.
Crawford completed the training program and was selected for certification by SciStarter and Arizona State University. “As a certified SciStarter Ambassador, I am a champion, connector, and facilitator within our community for citizen science education, programs, opportunities, projects, and events,” explained Crawford. Crawford further explained her volunteer role within the program. “Scientific data collection often has many hindrances, such as funding, location, and the time frame needed for data collection. However, citizen scientists have the power to make positive changes in their community through leisurely exploration and scientific discoveries. The job of volunteer citizen scientists is to collect data requested for a specific project and report their data to SciStarter. Their data is included and evaluated as pertinent scientific observations.”
Current scientific research projects may be found by selecting projects on the home page at www.scistarter.org. Take note research projects are specific to certain areas for data collection, and remember to search for available projects within your area code. Other search criteria exist, such as the age range appropriate for data collection and when and/or where you will primarily collect your data (on a walk, during your lunch break, etc.). The Craig County Public Library is currently participating in several projects, such as the Appalachian Trail Flower Watch, Project Squirrel, Frog Watch USA, Ask a Bumblebee, My Environment, the Great Sunflower Project, and more.
Not only can you participate in fun citizen science projects this summer (as well as year-round!), you can also join the Craig County Public Library’s newest reading challenges powered by Beanstack. “Beanstack offers online reading challenges for individuals as well as our community as a whole, and our hope is to engage all of Craig County to find the joy of reading. There are numerous challenges (with varying prizes) on Beanstack, such as the 1,000 Books before Kindergarten challenge, the Summer Reading Program, and holiday-themed and seasonal reading challenges. There is even a reading challenge that will help combat poverty and hunger by donating a flock of chickens to a family in need with every 2,000 minutes of reading logged through Heifer International (for more information, visit https://www.heifer.org). Some readers may solely use Beanstack as a new way of tracking their reading, while others may choose to earn prizes and connect with other readers and book lovers within our community,” Crawford explained.
Registration for Beanstack is simple and available for all ages. To register, visit https://craigcountypubliclibrary.beanstack.com/reader365, then select if you would like to register as an individual/family or as an educator, where you have the capability to register a class/group. After selecting who you wish to register, simply follow the prompts to enter your vital information (phone number and email are necessary for prizes/rewards) and create a username and password. If your registration is successful, you will receive a welcome letter from the library to your registered email account.
According to Crawford, this year’s Summer Reading Program will be the library’s first reading challenge offered via Beanstack. However, they will continue to have paper reading logs available at the library upon request for those who prefer to write their own reading log. “The Summer Reading Program will run June 4th to August 6th, with the grand prize winners announced on August 8th (prizes are TBD),” said Crawford.
The Craig County Public Library hopes you will join them this summer and beyond for further scientific inquiries, literacy challenges, and last but not least, library fun! As a reminder, the library offers free monthly teen take-and-make crafts, children’s take-and-make crafts, early literacy calendars, a puzzle exchange program, and volunteer opportunities for high school students, in addition to numerous programs and community events throughout the year. Like and follow the Craig County Public Library Facebook page for events and announcements, and consider becoming a Friend of the Library!
Those who are interested in hosting a citizen science project with a certified SciStarter Ambassador, Crawford’s information can be found through SciStarter and VolunteerMatch via the SciStarter website, or you can contact the Craig County Public Library. The SciStarter Ambassador program was made possible by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, VolunteerMatch, the National Girls Collaborative Project, SciStarter, and Arizona State University. Anyone 18+ may apply to become a SciStarter Ambassador. For more information and how to get involved, please visit www.scistarter.org/ambassadors.
For further information regarding Beanstack or SciStarter, please contact
Crawford at (540) 864-8978 or craiglibrary@swva.net.
-The New Castle Record
