Public Libraries as Partners in Astronomy Outreach Best Practice John Percy Keywords University of Toronto Libraries, partnership, public lectures, [email protected] science communication Public libraries have proven to be effective partners in bringing astronomy to audiences across the large and diverse city of Toronto, Canada, and enabling astronomers — both young and old — to interact with members of our community. This article reflects on the author’s experience working with public libraries, especially the Toronto Public Library (TPL), the busiest public library system in the world, to deliver over forty public presentations. Introduction to community outreach and interaction is astronomers too gain from this; for exam- congruent with our university’s priorities, ple the David Dunlap Observatory near As astronomers at the University of which were arrived at after long consulta- Toronto — which at its time of opening Toronto we come from the Department of tion and discussion. in 1935 housed the second-largest tele- Astronomy and Astrophysics, the Dunlap scope in the world — came about as a Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, direct result of a public lecture by astron- the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Partnerships omy Professor Clarence Chant. Though, of Astrophysics, and the Centre for Planetary course, that is not why we do public talks. Sciences. Collectively, we organise a A successful partnership is a cooperative large variety of outreach events1. These relationship between two or more individu- include: monthly public presentations and als or groups which enables the partners to Toronto and its public library tours reaching audiences of 150–200; an achieve their respective missions or goals system annual keynote lecture by an eminent visit- more efficiently and effectively. Such part- ing astronomer; regular public shows in nerships are respectful, productive, mutu- Toronto is one of the most ethnically- our small but powerful planetarium; and ally beneficial and an excellent tool for diverse cities in the world, with over half “Astronomy on Tap” — an informal, inter- astronomy outreach. of its 2.79 million residents born outside active programme in local pubs, reaching Canada. The residents of Toronto speak audiences of 400 or more. Working in partnership was at the core of 140 different languages and dialects. Toronto’s celebration of the International It is a city of dozens of vibrant neighbour- Our graduate students play a major role Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009: Hesser hoods, whose boundaries are based in planning and delivering our outreach et al., 2010) and has played a key role on history, geography, and ethnicity. events but even with this support organ- throughout the author’s and his team’s The Toronto Public Library (TPL) has a ising public lectures requires time, effort, work in astronomy outreach over the past hundred branches spread across every and money. Rooms and audio-visual half century (Percy, 2012). These partner- neighbourhood and community in the city, equipment need to be arranged and pub- ships enable us to connect with new audi- with a collective 18.5 million visits per year2. licity needs to be done. Our lectures usu- ences (Percy, 2009) and enable astrono- ally take place on our campus in the mid- mers to engage the public in new activities TPL, like other modern libraries, is more dle of the city, amid academic, hospital, without reinventing the wheel. To do some- than a repository and lender of books. As and government buildings. This part of the thing novel, we need only find like-minded well as electronic resources, its branches city is perfectly safe, but can be distant and partners who have the relevant skills, expe- offer a wide variety of programmes cater- intimidating for some residents and as a rience, and contacts to help make it hap- ing to their local neighbourhoods. The pro- result many of our events attract as their pen. We supply the enthusiastic astrono- grammes include: sessions for readers dominant audience middle-aged, middle- mer; our partners supply the infrastructure. and writers; workshops on practical top- class, educated, and predominantly white ics such as computers, personal finance, males. Often, it’s the same people who There is still a place in astronomy out- small business, health, and career and job- come to every event. We would like to reach for the live public lectures that these search help; after-school programmes; reach out to new audiences, in every cor- partnerships can help us achieve, even in projects designed for teenagers; reading ner of the city, especially as engagement this increasingly online world. People can sessions for children; and sessions tailored with the dynamic, diverse city is one of meet scientists face-to-face, and see sci- to newcomers to the city. Programmes and the three top priorities of our university’s ence as people, not just textbooks or the resources cover general-interest topics in current President Meric Gertler, an urban media. They can experience the enthusi- science, culture, history, and hobbies, are geographer. We are delighted that our asm that a real human brings to science, provided in 40 languages, are no-cost, and astronomers’ long-standing commitment ask questions, and build connections. The provide free facilities such as computers CAPjournal, No. 22, September 2017 5 Public Libraries as Partners in Astronomy Outreach Figure 1. The interior of a Toronto library. Credit: Jackman Chiu via Flickr and the Internet which are especially val- ble local neighbourhood hub for such peo- they are well-enough funded to produce uable to recent immigrants (of whom ple. The presentations provide intellectual engaging displays and resources (Sharma Toronto has many) and other disadvan- and social stimulation, which, along with et al., 2013, Summers et al., 2009). In our taged groups. Bernardi (2016) discussed good diet and exercise, has been shown case, funds and costs were minimal and the merit of communicating astronomy in to delay dementia perhaps better than our presenters, though enthusiastic, were “unconventional” locations, such as book any medication — so the impact of such volunteers. and toy shops and although to astrono- sessions is far from superficial (Baumgart mers libraries may seem to be an uncon- et al., 2015, Shurkin, 2015). The key initial step for us was to identify ventional location, they already offer pro- the person who coordinates programming grammes on a wide range of topics across the TPL system, and to develop an besides astronomy. Indeed, if astronomers Toronto Public Library partnership effective partnership with them. For most of want to reach new and diverse audiences, in the International Year of the time since the IYA2009, that has been they should offer programmes in as many Astronomy Miriam Scribner and it is to her we owe locations — unconventional and otherwise a great debt of gratitude. Initially we pro- — as possible. A primary goal of the International Year vided her with lists of available speakers of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) in Canada and topics every few months which she cir- Many of our library presentations attract (Hesser et al. 2010) was to reach new culated to her colleagues. Later, we set up an audience of retired people and seniors, and diverse audiences, at minimal cost. It an online speakers list4 — as we suggest not necessarily with a science background. therefore made sense to partner with TPL. every astronomy group does — and this These later-life learners provide a grow- The libraries provide the venue, the staff, was circulated to the programme coordina- ing, receptive, and important audience for the audio-visual facilities, and the publicity tors at each of the one hundred branches. astronomy outreach (Percy and Krstovic, through their website and quarterly What’s The list provides pictures, brief biogra- 2001). Although we give many courses On magazine3 (Figure 2). Other astronomy phies, and presentation topics for each and lectures for this audience outside the groups have reported success in part- speaker. The partnership coordinator, in library system, libraries provide an accessi- nering with public libraries, especially if our case Public Outreach Coordinator for 6 CAPjournal, No. 22, September 2017 CAPjournal, No. 22, September 2017 Figure 3. A front- page photograph of solar observing after an astronomy presentation by the author, at the Midland Public Library. Credit: Midland Mirror along with dinosaurs, is said to be children’s received. We try to ensure that our speak- Figure 2. During the International Year of Astronomy favourite science topic, but some present- ers list reflects the diversity of our astron- 2009, the September 2009 edition of the Toronto ers, the author of this article included, are omy group, and of our city. Public Library’s What’s On magazine featured astron- more comfortable giving presentations to omy (the Prague astronomical clock) on the cover, and highlighted a variety of astronomy programmes adults. So, in IYA2009, funded by a grant Based on requests, and on my experi- for people of all ages. Credit: Toronto Public Library from the PromoScience programme of ence, the most popular topics appear to the Natural Sciences and Engineering be: stellar evolution and death; black holes; Research Council of Canada, we enlisted exoplanets; extra-terrestrial life; and cos- the Dunlap Institute Michael Reid, keeps the help of Robby Costa, a recent science mology, though my “Toronto’s Astronomical the speakers list full, and up-to-date, and graduate who had also completed an under- Heritage” presentation (Percy, 2014) is also manages requests from the librarians. graduate course in Science Education, and very popular. who aspired to be an elementary school Once a speaker is chosen, either teacher. Together, we developed and deliv- When promoting talks it is important for approached directly by librarians they ered a dozen programmes for children the title and summary of the presentation know or requested through the website, which were a mixture of engaging content, to reflect the excitement of the content.