City of Greensboro to Offer Mobile Environmental Education Classroom

The city of Greensboro Library and Parks and Recreation departments are repurposing the city's current Reading Railroad service to become an environmental education mobile classroom that will help the city’s efforts to package and extend its educational resources to students throughout the community.

"We are excited about this new partnership opportunity with the Greensboro Public Library," said Chris Wilson, interim director for the Greensboro Parks & Recreation Department. "Our staff will collaborate with their environmental education librarian to ensure that programs are readily available in underserved neighborhoods throughout our community. In addition, this gives us a great resource to take on the road to provide edutainment opportunities for local schools."

 

The exterior of the bus will be rewrapped and the interior redesigned to accommodate the mobile classroom. It will feature live animals and environmental displays, and a collection of resources, books and DVDs will be available to be checked out. The city’s environmental education librarian and the Parks and Recreation’s environmental education staff will collaborate on the programs offered. This initiative will ensure that environmental education programs are readily available to underserved residents throughout the community.

The Reading Railroad is currently parked at Lake Brandt, serving the residents of Lake Jeanette and northeast Greensboro on Thursdays from 9 am to 5 pm through October 25.

 

Greensboro is also home to the Kathleen Clay Edwards Family Branch Library. This facility serves as a regular library, but also has an environmental education focus and offers a number of general public and professional development environmental education programs. It is also listed as a North Carolina Environmental Education Center by the N.C. Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs. The library is located in the 98-acre Price Park which includes a bird and butterfly meadow, reading garden, walking trails, ponds, and wetlands. In addition to popular collections, the library also has an extensive collection of nature, gardening, and environmental resources for children and adults. Price Park backpacks are available for adults and children to explore nature along the trails and in their own backyard. (Photo from KCE Library)