STAR Library Network

2021 ALA Midwinter Meeting
2021-01-22 - 2021-01-26
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The ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits will take place online, January 22-26, 2021
Highlights include:

Symposium on the Future of Libraries, offering sessions on future trends to inspire innovation in libraries
News You Can Use with updates that highlight new research, innovations, and advances in libraries
Interactive author events
Awards celebrations
A Virtual Exhibit Hall with NEW! Presentation Stages and Keynote Presenters
Live Chats
Networking opportunities
and more!

Be sure to follow hashtag #alamw21 for all of the conference news before, during, and after the event!

Resources: ViewSpace Question & Answer Session
2021-02-10 12:30 - 13:30 UTC
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Resources: ViewSpace Question & Answer Session
This Q&A session gives libraries a chance to learn about and find creative ways to utilize ViewSpace in their spaces, on their websites, and combine with programming. ViewSpace is a web-based collection of digital interactives and videos highlighting the latest developments in astronomy and Earth science. ViewSpace gives you the opportunity to explore our planet, solar system, galaxy, and universe through videos that can be played on demand or as a looping exhibit and through digital interactives that allow you to explore objects and materials from different perspectives. Provided free with the support of NASA, ViewSpace is developed by a team of scientists, educators, and communication specialists who collaborate to ensure that content is accurate, up-to-date, engaging, relevant, and accessible to a wide audience.

The Perseverance Rover Landing
2021-02-18
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The Perseverance Rover Landing
Perseverance will touch down on Mars on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, at approximately 12:30 p.m. PST (3:30 p.m. EST). During landing, the rover plunges through the thin Martian atmosphere, with the heat shield first, at a speed of over 12,000 mph (about 20,000 kph). A parachute and powered descent slow the rover down to about 2 mph (three-fourths of a meter per second). A large sky crane then lowers the rover on three bridle cords to land softly on six wheels. Landing on Mars is hard. Read all about the rover’s harrowing entry, descent and landing.
Landing at Jezero Crater
The rover’s new home is Jezero Crater, a large impact crater about 28 miles wide (45 kilometers wide) just north of the Martian equator. Jezero once contained a lake, which scientists think is one of the most ideal places to find evidence of ancient microbial life. If life exists anywhere else in our solar system, chances are, it might be at Jezero Crater. The main question Perseverance is trying to answer is: Was there ever ancient life on Mars? To answer that question, the rover will collect and store the most compelling rock and soil samples for return to Earth by a future mission. Once on Earth, scientists can use a variety of sophisticated instruments, many of them too large and bulky to transport to Mars, to help answer this question.

Engineers Week
2021-02-21 - 2021-02-27
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Imagining Tomorrow
COVID-19 has laid bare the critical work of engineers in creating a world safe from pandemics, climate change, cyber-attacks, and other daunting global challenges.
Engineers Week is a time to celebrate their important work and engage the next generation of innovators. Even with social distancing, you can make a difference.
During this week, your library will have the opportunity to:

Be a virtual role model
Celebrate engineers and their contributions
Share Chats with Change Makers

We Are Water: Community Water Connections in the Four Corners Region
2021-02-24 14:00 - 15:00 UTC
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We Are Water: Community Water Connections in the Four Corners Region
World Water Day is March 22nd, but you can celebrate water all month long with STAR Net and CIRES Education & Outreach as we explore the extraordinary ways that water brings our communities together. This webinar is specially designed for libraries in the Four Corners Region of the United States. Join us as we explore how water, critical and scarce in the Four Corners Region, connects diverse communities through our shared place and unique stories. Learn about programming resources, a virtual book club opportunity, and register to receive Take & Make kits to share with kids and families in your community!

Women's History Month
2021-03-01 - 2021-03-31
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Women’s History Month
Every year, libraries have the opportunity to host Women’s History month events related to NASA’s scientific explorations of the universe. Using a suite of resources from NASA’s Universe of Learning, you can host your own Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA event to celebrate and highlight the contributions of women to astronomy. These events are intended to be open to all family members, regardless of gender, but focus on engaging girls in science using field-tested, hands-on activities. Also, events can be held in March or any time during the year. Some event components could include:

Showcasing Women in STEM posters, with suggested reading
Facilitating a NASA Universe of Learning hands-on activity, paired with a STEM KIT
Inviting NASA scientists or engineers to talk about the latest discoveries
Hosting an exhibit with freely available print materials
And more (or less) depending on your needs and constraints

Your Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA event will be a great kick-off for other Women’s History Month activities that you organize. To learn more or to participate, please contact: girlsSTEAMahead@universe-of-learning.org

Celebrate Citizen Science Month with SciStarter and STAR Net
2021-03-30 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Denver)
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Celebrate Citizen Science Month with SciStarter and STAR Net
Hundreds of libraries across the country are community hubs for citizen science. Yours can be, too! Citizen science connects communities to real scientific data through engaging projects that help make the world a better place. We will be hearing from library staff about their citizen science experiences and having a live chat about ways your community can get involved. Come with questions and walk away with resources and tips to support a citizen science project at your library!

Our Planet: EARTH
2021-04-01 - 2021-04-30
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Take Action for a Sustainable World!
In January 2019, the American Library Association (ALA) on behalf of its members adopted “sustainability” as a core value of librarianship. To be truly sustainable, a community must embody practices that are environmentally sound AND economically feasible AND socially equitable. Click here for the details on this resolution.
STAR Net‘s Our Planet: EARTH campaign focuses on earth citizen science opportunities and resources to coincide with Earth Day, Citizen Science Month and the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. STAR Net and its partners are reaching out to libraries across the U.S. to encourage their patrons to participate in Earth-related Citizen Science activities that they can safely do, both in and outside of their homes.

2021 Community Trees Challenge: Science is Better Together
2021-04-16 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Denver)
Join Los Angeles Public Library, with NASA and GLOBE Program personnel, discussing the 2021 Community Trees Challenge and explaining why trees and tree height are so important to NASA, California, and the entire planet. Come learn how to build a hand-held instrument to measure tree height, using simple, everyday materials, and learn all about the NASA GLOBE Observer Trees Tool.

Look Up! Explore Our Universe with the James Webb Space Telescope Mission
2021-05-25 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Denver)
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Look Up! Explore Our Universe with the James Webb Space Telescope Mission
The ever-expanding Universe is full of awe-inspiring phenomena, and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is NASA’s next great space science observatory setting out to discover the mysteries of our solar system! Join STAR Net, NASA’s Universe of Learning, and Project Scientist Dr. Alexandra Lockwood to learn about how the JWST, launching in October 2021, will be searching for distant worlds around other stars and probing the mystifying structures and origins of the Universe. Learn about how you can use the JWST launch to captivate and inspire your patrons and engage your community in some of humanity’s biggest questions: How does the Universe work? How did we get here? Are we alone?

2021 ALA Annual Conference
2021-06-23 - 2021-06-28
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2021 Annual Conference & Exhibition – Virtual
An online event with educational programming, special author events, and networking.
What You Can Expect:

Educational programming

Memorable and inspiring Featured Speakers

COVID-19 information for libraries

Live chats with authors

Livestreamed presentations

The Library Marketplace with more than 500 participating exhibitors

Leading authors

Networking opportunities

LibrariesTransform® and a focus on the future

Live OpenSpace Event with the American Museum of Natural History (Day 1)
2021-10-13 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Denver)
NASA@ My Library and the American Museum of Natural History are set to bring a livestream about the Webb Space Telescope to your library. What sets the Webb Space Telescope apart from other space telescopes and how will the mission extend our understanding of the Universe? Join presenters from the American Museum of Natural History on either evening for a live, virtual trip more than a million miles from Earth, to Webb’s future home in space.
OpenSpace is open source interactive data visualization software designed to visualize the entire known universe and portray our ongoing efforts to investigate the cosmos.
Both events will be similar, so no need to attend both! Save one or both of these dates:
October 13, 2021 at 6 pm ET (3 pm PT) YouTube Stream
October 14, 2021 at 9 pm ET (6 pm PT) YouTube Stream

Live OpenSpace Event with the American Museum of Natural History (Day 2)
2021-10-14 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Denver)
NASA@ My Library and the American Museum of Natural History are set to bring a livestream about the Webb Space Telescope to your library. What sets the Webb Space Telescope apart from other space telescopes and how will the mission extend our understanding of the Universe? Join presenters from the American Museum of Natural History on either evening for a live, virtual trip more than a million miles from Earth, to Webb’s future home in space.
OpenSpace is open source interactive data visualization software designed to visualize the entire known universe and portray our ongoing efforts to investigate the cosmos.
Both events will be similar, so no need to attend both! Save one or both of these dates:
October 13, 2021 at 6 pm ET (3 pm PT)
October 14, 2021 at 9 pm ET (6 pm PT)

Int'l Observe the Moon Night
2021-10-16
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Encouraging Observation, Appreciation and Understanding
International Observe the Moon Night is a worldwide, public celebration of lunar science and exploration held annually since 2010. On October 16, 2021, your library is invited to join this world-wide celebration by hosting an event on one day each year to look at and learn about our Moon together.
International Observe the Moon Night is usually held in the fall, when the Moon is around first quarter. Fall in the Northern Hemisphere is generally a good time, because of school schedules and the weather, and a first quarter Moon is visible in the afternoon and evening, a convenient time for most hosts and participants.

Look Up: Explore Our Universe
2021-11-29
STAR Net’s Look Up: Explore Our Universe campaign is a celebration of the James Webb Space Telescope mission. It’s a collaboration with the American Library Association, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Education Development Center, NASA’s Universe of Learning program, and NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
Public libraries across the U.S. and beyond are invited to participate in this year-long campaign and take advantage of the many resources that are available on this campaign website and others that we link to. Resources include STAR Net’s STEM Activity Clearinghouse activities, videos, images, a media toolkit, live streaming events, and connection to subject matter experts.

Citizen Science in the Library: Turn Your Curiosity into Impact
2022-02-24 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Denver)
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April is Citizen Science Month, and with it comes a variety of ways for you to turn your curiosity into impact. Citizen science connects communities to real scientific data through engaging projects that help make the world a better place. Join STAR Net and SciStarter to learn how your library can be a hub for citizen science and how to connect your patrons to real (and fun!) ways to help scientists. Come with questions and walk away with resources and tips to support a citizen science project at your library!

Our Blue Planet: EARTH
2022-03-23 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Denver)
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Oceans define our home planet, covering the majority of Earth’s surface and driving the water cycle that dominates our land and atmosphere. Join STAR Net and Dr. Michael Wood, a NASA Postdoctoral Program fellow in the Sea Level and Ice Group as we explore how Earth’s oceans are changing and how that impacts Earth as a global, dynamic system.
Whether or not your library is participating in the Collaborative Summer Library Program’s 2022 theme “Oceans of Possibilities” this webinar can help prepare you to engage your patrons in discussions about the future of our planet, and even worlds beyond our planet! We will also be sharing resources about other ocean worlds that span our Solar System and beyond.

Celebrate Water During Earth Science Week
2022-05-24 13:00 - 14:00 UTC
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Earth Science Week will take place October 9-15 with the theme “Earth Science for a Sustainable World.” Learning about and conserving water is a fundamental aspect of a sustainable future! Join STAR Net as we share engaging and fun water activities and resources developed by the We are Water Project Team that you can use to celebrate Earth Science Week – and beyond!
We are Water works with libraries in the Four Corners Region to explore and share stories about water within the communities they serve. Learn about water topics specific to this region, explore hands-on water activities, and begin planning your October library programs in celebration of Earth Science Week!

2022 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition - Join us!
2022-06-23 08:00 - 2022-06-28 17:00 (America/Denver)
Are you heading to the Annual American Library Association Conference in Washington D.C.? The STAR Net team is looking forward to seeing you both at the NASA booth and our Eclipse station! We will have information on the two new Eclipses coming our way in 2023 and 2024 (yes, it’s Eclipse 2.0!) Stop by to say hi, grab a button, and learn about some awesome solar science!
Sessions

STEAM Equity: Gender Equitable STEAM Programming
Friday, June 24, 2022 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Location: Washington Convention Center, 150B (Ticketed Event)
Don’t Talk at Them – Learn with Them! Facilitation Strategies and Resources to Help Your Library Engage Young Patrons in STEAM Learning Experiences
Saturday, June 25, 2022 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Location: Washington Convention Center, 150A

We can’t wait to see you there!

Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries FAQ Webinar
2022-07-27 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Denver)
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Did you know there are two eclipses coming up that can be seen across the U.S.? An annular solar eclipse in 2023 and a total solar eclipse in 2024! Learn about STAR Net’s new SEAL (Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries) Initiative, funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. We will be discussing the upcoming eclipses, sharing how to sign up for free eclipse glasses, and exploring additional resources for hosting ‘out of this world’ eclipse programming!

What’s Next for Webb? Unraveling the Birth of Stars and Planetary Systems
2022-08-30 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Denver)
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The world got its first look at the astonishing images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in July. This first wave of full-color scientific images and spectra is just the beginning of Webb’s scientific operations. Join STAR Net at a free webinar on Tuesday, August 30th from 1-2 pm Mountain Time as we invite Dr. Elena Sabbi from the Space Telescope Science Institute to share about her work using Webb to study the formation of stars and planets. Discover how Webb’s new observations will revolutionize our understanding of the processes that have shaped the solar system!

We are Water: Sharing Stories through Stop-Motion Animation
2022-09-27 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Denver)
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Earth Science Week is just around the corner! Celebrate our beautiful planet October 9-15 with activities, resources, and stop-motion storytelling developed by the We are Water project team. Explore how water, critical and scarce, connects all things on Earth and how to celebrate it with your community!

World Water Day: Celebrate the Building Block of Life
2022-10-27 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Denver)
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Are you planning your springtime events? World Water Day is March 22! This is a day organized by the United Nations to bring awareness about water-related issues that face humans in almost every country. Join us as we explore hands-on activities about water conservation, the hydrological cycle, and engage in discussions about how water connects us all.

NASA Inspires Futures for Tomorrow’s Youth (NIFTY) Pre-Application Webinar
2023-01-10 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Denver)
Are you a library in Minnesota, California, Arizona, or California? Learn all about how to get involved in a new project, NASA Inspires Futures for Tomorrow’s Youth (NIFTY)! NIFTY aims to broaden participation of youth (ages 9-14) in STEM, with a critical focus on girls and other historically-excluded genders in STEM, by connecting your library with diverse NASA Role Models. Join us on January 6th at 12 pm Mountain Time to learn more about the project and how to apply!
Register Here

Planning for Citizen Science Month
2023-02-01 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Denver)
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Join this SciStarter professional development for libraries to gain citizen science ideas and resources ranging from simple book displays, to staff and community training, to activities featuring turnkey citizen science projects, to online or in-person events with subject matter experts.

Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries Virtual Training
2023-02-07 13:00 - 14:00, 2023-02-22 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Denver)
Come join the SEAL team at the Space Science Institute to learn all about the resources available to help you plan programming at your library for the 2023 annular eclipse and the 2024 total eclipse! We’ll review the SEAL project, go over the contents of the circulating solar viewing kits, demonstrate a hands-on activity, and more!
Register Here

We are Water: Celebrating Water this Earth Day
2023-02-16 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Denver)
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Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Engage your community this spring around the importance of protecting our water systems with resources and hands-on activities from the We are Water project! Learn how to launch a social media photo challenge and share ideas of how to connect with your community over local water topics.

SEAL Virtual Training: Citizen Science and Eclipse Programming
2023-04-12 11:00 - 12:00, 2023-04-25 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Denver)
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The 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses are a great opportunity to explore citizen science at your library! Join STAR Net to learn how to incorporate citizen science into your library’s eclipse programming as part of the Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries virtual training series.
