Little Free Earth Library Welcomes Children to Western’s Campus

Environmental Grant Writing class celebrated a successful proposal with picnic, gifts.

Undergraduate students from Western Colorado University’s Clark Family School of Environment & Sustainability hosted ten students from the Gunnison community on Saturday, April 20, to celebrate the installation of the new Little Free Earth Library.

Students from Dr. Brooke Zanetell’s Environmental Grant Writing class wrote and submitted a grant application to the Western Sustainability Action Committee’s Sustainability Fund to fulfill goals that fostered sustainability, diversity, and inclusion on campus. The Committee then approved a $1,000 grant for the library.

“I wanted to make the process of grant writing fun for the students,” Assistant Professor of Public Land Management Dr. Brooke Zanetell said. “I wanted them to see that grants aren’t just about writing good proposals, but about getting creative and finding ways to fund projects that you care about.”

Most of the children and families who attended were native Spanish speakers from Guatemala and Columbia who now call Gunnison home. Other families included parents who work with the public schools, at Western, or the City of Gunnison.

With the funds, students not only paid for the installation of the Little Free Earth Library but also bought lunch for their kindergarten- through high school-aged guests and gave them all a painted canvas tote bag containing Gabi Garcia’s bilingual environmental storybook, We Are All Connected/ Todos Estamos Conectados: Caring for Each Other & the Earth.

A Community Project

Along with the grant, several members of the Western and Gunnison communities came together to make the Little Free Earth Library possible. Associate Vice President of Campus Operations Sherry Ford and Grounds Supervisor Loren White helped with the installation, while local business Western Lumber provided concrete and a paving stone.

Gunnison restaurant Mario’s Pizza and Pasta provided discounted pizza, and OffCenter Designs hurried to print a student-designed logo on the tote bags. Gunnison Valley Mentors and the Gunnison Community School also helped recruit children and their families to participate in the event.

“It was exciting to expose the kids to environmental literature and hopefully inspire them to come to campus and maybe even study here someday and help us save the planet,” Western senior Solomyn Collen said, adding that the project “stood out because it promoted Western to a younger, more diverse community.”

“The class had a lot of ideas,” Western student Mel Cox said. “But we decided to propose a Little Free Earth Library for all children in the area to visit and feel like they have a place on campus.”

Learn more about the Clark Family School of Environment & Sustainability.

Clark School

 

Author Credit: Seth Mensing

Photo Credit: Courtesy