Library Gazette

Earth Day was observed at ZSR a few days early this year, with the second annual “Celebrating Nature” program that was held on Thursday, April 16. Three speakers gave their perspectives on the importance of recycling in terms of conservation strategies, preservation techniques, and the connections on a local and broader canvas.It was also scheduled to coincide with the Earth Day Fair to be held for the first time on Wake’s campus the following Saturday the 18^th.

Peter Romanov started the program as a substitute for Becky Bowers, who had been scheduled to participate.He gave a brief tour of the Treehugger website, a source of environmental news as well as tips, forums, and quizzes. Peter demonstrated three of these quizzes to the audience:

What’s Your Green IQ?

Are You Green Car Savvy?

What’s the Footprint of Your Food?

Craig Fansler followed with an example of recycling some of the materials that are discarded from the library. By salvaging endpapers, pictures and text from books that have been withdrawn, he created a series of shadowboxes (seen below), flip books, and magnets.

Dr. Robert Browne of the Biology Department, who spoke at the first “Celebrating Nature” event last year, closed the program with several thoughts about the efforts to encourage sustainability at Wake Forest. Different units around campus have been recycling materials as much as possible, from lawn waste to construction materials. Recycling of paper, glass and metal has been gaining ground, but the problems of cross-contamination have led to the disposal of some recyclables as garbage. In the case of garbage, Dr. Browne commented about attempts by Winston-Salem to keep the landfill as safe as possible by finding ways to prevent the buildup of volatile methane gas, either by capturing and recycling it or by “scrubbing” many of the harmful contaminants by a complex filtration system.

Dr. Browne also shared two little known facts:

• A serious methane explosion took place in Winston-Salem on the morning of September 27, 1969 at the old city dump located on Silas Creek Parkway behind the National Guard Armory.Gas that seeped into the armory was ignited by a person lighting a cigarette.Three people were killed in the accident and twenty-five more were injured.
• Some of the marble from the staircases that led to the original main entrance to the library from the fourth floor is still on campus.Several benches were made from that marble and placed along the Reynolda Village Path.If you look closely, the masonry is still visible!

In all, twenty-three people attended this year’s program. Who knows what next year may bring?

At 12 noon on Earth Day, ZSR hosted a program called “Celebrating Nature” in Room 204. It was a joint lecture by four faculty members who addressed how nature could be celebrated in different ways: Bob Browne (”Celebrating Nature Through Preservation”), Emily Wakild (”Celebrating Nature Through Movement”), Bonnie Carr O’Neill (”Celebrating Nature Through Literature”), and Avram Hiller (”Celebrating Nature Through Photography”). Although it was a lunchtime program and there were several events going on at the same time, 33 people were in the audience. The feedback was very positive and included questions about whether another program could be held next year- it could be a tradition in the making!

This event would not have been possible without special contributions from several individuals: Carol Cramer for marketing suggestions, Craig Fansler for designing the flyer, Carolyn McCallum and Mary Reeves for helping with the planning details, and Caroline Numbers for recording it for a later podcast. Also, special thanks go to Lynn Sutton and Wanda Brown for their support of the idea.  Thanks to all of you for providing another great opportunity for ZSR to reach out to the campus community through its programming!