MISSOULA — It's a sure sign of Earth Day this week, and the imminent re-opening of the Missoula Public Library, as the library passed out hundreds of trees and science kits.
Starting Thursday, and continuing through Saturday, the library teamed with Families First Learning Lab and spectrUM to pass out the white spruce "starters" and science kits marking Earth Day and the state of spring.
The trees were provided from a nationwide program Neighborhood Forest, which has been teaming with libraries to plant more trees. And Missoula families responded quickly, since the library only has 3-weeks to conduct sign-ups.
Pam Carlton, the Youth Services Librarian, was astonished at the quick response.
"And we thought, 'oh, should we even bother?' But then, yeah, I was convinced that if I put it out there people would sign up and they did."
Carlton says it's another sign of the library's return to post-pandemic operations.
"We have missed our little people coming to the library. And this is a lot of fun to actually be able to stand here and talk with them a little bit, hand them a tree and say 'hope to see you soon.' "
If you signed up for trees, you'll have one final time to pick them up, Saturday from 1-to-3 pm at the Missoula Public Library.
The Montana Watershed Education Network will also be doing some demonstrations.
The Missoula Library is still set to re-open, with precautions, on May 3rd.
