Library Fun

We have started taking advantage of all the public library has to offer!  The public library system here is pretty large, and both the downtown branch and the branch closest to our apartment are much, much larger than the library in Thief River (or any public library I can think of outside of the Twin Cities.  Well, the Duluth library may be as large as these, and St. Cloud).  We've checked-out books and movies, I've used the library as a space to work on my school work, and yesterday we took the girls to a children's program, called Wiggly Worms.

Ready to get started!

A person from the area recycling agency was there, as were lots of library staff and teen volunteers to help the children create a worm habitat which is the beginning of a compost pile.  The recycling agency person talked about how worms help the soil and help things grow, then the kids started putting together their worm habitats.  First, they put soil in the bottom of a plastic bottle that had been cut in half...

then they added some torn up lettuce, then more soil, more lettuce, more soil, then...WORMS!!

I laughed when I saw they were pulling the worms from bait containers.  Minnesota people (and maybe others), you know what I'm talking about, the plastic containers that look like they might be a small cottage cheese container, but inside there is dirt and worms.

The girls were very happy with their finished products...

Since we live in an apartment and can't start a compost pile, I was concerned about what in the world we were going to do with two bottles of dirt, rotting lettuce, and worms.  The recycling person told me we could keep the containers inside for about a month for the girls to observe the process, then we will have to dump them outside somewhere so the worms can go live a happy life.  So, the containers are on the kitchen counter, next to the plastic cup holding the dead bright green beetle the girls found and the jar with a spider the girls found.  We are a mini-science lab!

I am very happy to see that the public library here has good programs for the kids, a good selection of materials, and very friendly and helpful staff.  Now, they just need to hire me :)