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BIG RAPIDS — The Big Rapids Community Library brought the wonder and intrigue of the zoo to the community with Zoo Day on Thursday morning.
Featuring handler and educator Abigail Barker of the John Ball Zoo, children from the Big Rapids community had the opportunity to see, learn about and even touch wild animals including a cockroach, a tenrec, a wood turtle and a black rat snake.
Sarah Welch of the library organized the event in hopes of bringing the zoo to people since many can’t make it down to Grand Rapids.
“It’s a way for us to learn, explore that imagination and have that experience,” Welch said.
Welch had never worked with John Ball and reached out to their education department.
“We still have a line down the sidewalk to pet the snake. I think we all learned something new. I’d be happy to have them again next year,” she said.
Barker said summer reading programs are some of her favorites to attend.
“There’s a lot of people that can’t find their way to the zoo all the time that they might not be able to visit the zoo themselves, so it’s such a great opportunity to bring the zoo to them,” she said.
Barker shared several facts about the animals she was presenting, and she said the best part is trying to make an impact on the community and getting kids involved in saving wildlife and benefiting the ecosystem.
“Because there’s a lot of ways to do that, that a lot of people don’t even think about, like something as simple as just sharing where to watch out for native animals, or things that kids can do in the wild to help our conservation projects. It is a really, really rewarding experience,” she said.
Welch said the event went very well, estimating at least 350 people in attendance.
“We’re just really thankful for everyone to come. We just really appreciate the community sponsors we’ve had for summer reading, including our Friends of the Library Group who’ve helped fund some of our programming,” she said.
Welch’s favorite animal that was shown was the cockroach.
“I don’t want to touch one or be near one, but I just think it’s a fascinating thing, and they’re just so important. I never would have thought that they would bring one to the library to learn about, I thought that was kind of cool,” she said.
The Community Library has a paleontologist coming on Aug. 10 at 11 a.m. to show dinosaur bones and more.
For more information, visit www.bigrapidslibrary.org/events.
