The Roseburg Public Library is one of 16 in the nation chosen for the Smithsonian Associates rural project.
The project offers educational and cultural programs. Roseburg Library Director Kris Wiley told KLCC it’s an opportunity for the library to expand its offerings– something patrons have requested.
“One of the things that we run into as a public library is capacity, to be able to develop these kinds of programs and now with this project they're coming right to us and we just get to choose,” she said.
Wiley says they’ll seek input from patrons on what they’d like to choose from the Smithsonian catalog.
“What my plan is, is to get out to the community and show them this catalog, and have them help us determine what they want to see,” said Wiley.
The first event this month features “Birds of Costa Rica”, in collaboration with the Umpqua Bird Alliance.
Wiley said the first program came about in an interesting way.
“We had our initial conversation with Smithsonian Associates and about eight other libraries,” she said. “I shared that we have a wonderful partnership with Umpqua Bird Alliance and we had noticed that there was a ‘Birding in Costa Rica’ program that would be fantastic to partner with.”
The official start of the partnership with Smithsonian Associates is in September, but they made an exception for the July program with the Bird Alliance.
Wiley said she hopes they can have more programs that connect to local organizations, but that might not happen each time.
“Sometimes it's gonna be a local partner that's gonna fit in perfectly, and sometimes it's just going to be something that a lot of people have demonstrated interest in, whether it's a book that's just come out,” she said.
“Birding in Costa Rica” is Wednesday, July 22 at 6 p.m. at the Roseburg Public Library, located at 1409 NE Diamond Lake Blvd.
