Stars, Mars & Galaxies On the Go with NASA Award
We are pleased to announce a grant award of $25,000 from the NASA Community Anchor Award program to support the launch of "Astronomy Dome: Linking Youth to the Universe," a mobile planetarium experience. The initiative aims to increase access to educational and STEM centered programming implemented throughout the greater Houston area by HPL’s Community Engagement Team and Youth Services librarians.
HPL’s Community Engagement Team is always on the move, delivering library services to communities, through its fleet of vehicles equipped with cutting-edge, essential technology. With "Astronomy Dome," specialized NASA programming is now part of this strategic outreach. HPL’s wide-ranging resources and tools utilized by dedicated Neighborhood Library staff serving students and young learners are enhanced by a curriculum that focuses on Mars, galaxies and astrobiology.
NASA’s generous support of this project aligns with HPL’s mission: We Link People to the World. HPL Deputy Director Nicole Robinson expresses gratitude and enthusiasm for the funding that uses libraries as a connector, “to spark an interest in space exploration and scientific careers, as well as inspire youth to aim for the stars.” The mobile planetarium experience is geared toward youth in grades K-12, and efforts to reach the target population extend to HPL Neighborhood Library locations and designated Houston Complete Communities. In addition to the purchase of items, such as telescopes for “Star Party” events, staff have access to training opportunities through the Anchor Award program.
NASA selects a diverse group of projects from museums, science centers, library systems and other informal education organizations across the country as NASA Informal Education Community Anchors. The projects receive Teams Engaging Affiliated Museums and Informal Institutions (TEAM II) Community Anchor Awards. Designation as a community anchor recognizes an institution as a local community resource. Projects bring space exploration to traditionally underserved areas and broaden student participation in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
For more information about the Houston Public Library’s Community Engagement services, visit https://houstonlibrary.org/outreach or call 832-393-1533.
To learn more about the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Teams Engaging Affiliated Museums and Informal Institutions Program, please visit: https://informal.jpl.nasa.gov/museum/CP4SMP.
July 5, 2022 - August 13, 2022
Julia Ideson Building | Exhibit Hall
550 McKinney St., 77002 | 832-393-1313
Opening to the public on July 5, 2022, at the historic Julia Ideson Building, is Young at Art: A Selection of Caldecott Book Illustrations. This exhibition includes original artwork from Caldecott Medal recipients and “runner-up” Honor books, as well as other illustrations by award-winning artists.
Since 1938, the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, has recognized the significant impact of art on early reading experiences, awarding the Caldecott Medal to artists for excellence in this area.
The first Caldecott Award recipient Dorothy P. Lathrop (1938), two-time winner Chris Van Allsburg (1982, 1986), and Maurice Sendak (1964), whose work Where the Wild Things Are, like Van Allsburg’s Jumanji and The Polar Express, was adapted for the big screen, are part of the exhibit. Their illustrations are widely recognized not only as artistic classics in children’s literature but also as the source of countless beloved memories for the young and young at heart.
HPL curator, Christina Grubitz was pleased to showcase items from the Houston Metropolitan Research Center collection, including copies of rare illustrations by Salvador Dali of Alice in Wonderland, unrelated to the exhibit, but nonetheless a remarkable example of children’s literature housed by the HMRC. “The Caldecott exhibit complements the Norma Meldrum Juvenile Collection for the study of children’s literature from the 1800s to the 1970s that can be explored in the room of the same name and speaks to the significance of HPL hosting this exhibit.”
The Caldecott Collection of Children’s Book Illustrations is part of the permanent collection of the Wichita Falls Museum of Art at Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, Texas. The museum has collected children’s book illustrations for more than fifty years.
The exhibit will be on view from July 5, 2022, through August 13, 2022 at the Julia Ideson Building Exhibit Hall, located at 550 McKinney St., 77002.
The exhibit is in partnership with ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance with the Texas Commission on the Arts and The National Endowment for the Arts.
The exhibit is free and open to the public. Exhibit dates are subject to change.