We know that climate change is real, it’s happening, and it’s accelerating. (Please, I’m sure we have no one who is listening to the siren song of anti-science lies; but know that I’ll cry if anyone brings them up.)

It’s hard to imagine what it’s going to be like as water levels rise. When I was in Boston, I used to talk to my students about planning for their futures. In 50 years – certainly within a reasonable life expectancy from my Master’s degree students – the area where our school was housed is forecast to be underwater. So – a new place needs to be found for their 50 year reunion! (Plus, obviously, lots of other plans.)

In Minnesota, we’re pretty luck with this. I’ve seen a lot of material that says we will actually be a destination for climate refugees, because it shouldn’t be overwhelmingly hot here and we have all this fresh water. So that’s a feature of climate change we need to consider now – where do we put a bunch of extra people? (We’ve got tons of currently empty space, so might be a good idea to start getting it ready!)

In Maryland, an area likely be be clobbered over the next few decades, residents are using VR to see what things will be like. Check out these excerpts, and click to read the whole article and to see all of their images!

‘An Eye-Opener’: Virtual Reality Shows Residents What Climate Change Could Do

“Connie Monroe clicks a button, flicks her wrist and watches as her neighborhood floods.

The reed-covered shorelines are first to go. Then, the baseball fields at Fleming Park. By the time seawater reaches the senior center, it has inundated streets, flooding more than a dozen multiunit brick homes that she can see.

Monroe moves her head up and down, side to side, taking in the sobering simulated view. This is what could happen to Turner Station, a historic African American community southeast of Baltimore, as sea levels rise.

“Everything’s underwater. The school is underwater. Our house is underwater,” Monroe says. A frown forms below the bulky gray virtual reality headset covering her eyes. “Is the water really supposed to get that high?”

Climate change presents many challenges to coastal communities and to those trying to prepare for its impacts, but one of the most basic is also one of the most vexing: How do you show people — and convince them — of a possible future?

It’s one thing to hear or read that sea levels could rise as high as 7 feet in Maryland by the end of the century under worst-case scenarios, but it’s another “to imagine what that will look like in your own backyard,” says Jackie Specht, the coastal science program manager for The Nature Conservancy’s Maryland/DC Chapter.

“And if it’s hard to imagine, it’s hard to face and prioritize, especially when there are so many tangible issues that [people are] facing in the day-to-day.”

Communicating the realness and immediacy of the climate threat is hugely important to climate researchers and those aiming to mitigate its causes. But it’s also paramount to communities faced with coming changes that are already unavoidable.

Climate resiliency projects need public support and input.

That’s why Monroe and other residents at this recent community meeting are being directed to sit in metal chairs, put on virtual reality headsets and watch their homes flood.

Turner Station is trying to prepare.”

Two of my very favorite things in the world are reading books, and spending time hiking/camping in nice places.

And people: Minnesota is a BONANZA for both of these passions!!!

I’ve been here a little more than three years now, so I know some great Minnesota things, but am still new enough that I get excited about how cool it is. I visited libraries and camped in state parks before I moved here – and both of them were incentives in wanting to be in Minnesota!!

Once you’ve lived in a state or two (looking hard at Illinois and Wisconsin) that are in various stages of economic shambles, you really appreciate living in a place where the most important basics for a good life are being handled. Yes, obviously, I mean libraries and state parks.

So we’re celebrating these two great Minnesota institutions with a book challenge set of suggestions!

You can join our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks!

For every state park and every state recreation area, we have a link to the park/area, the year it was established, and a quick fact about it. Working from that fact, we prompt you to go find a book that would in some small way celebrate that aspect of the park.

Any time you get stuck looking for books, and can’t quite figure out what you want to read next – we’re here for you! Read a book you find from a park prompt, and it’s like a double bonus gold star to you: a new book and a celebration of the park.

So, what would a prompt look like?

Maybe you have been to Grand Portage State Park. It’s waaaaay up there, the farthest north state park on the North Shore. And it has the tallest waterfall in the state. So we are celebrating that with the prompt: ” Enjoy a book with a waterfall on the cover, or as part of the story. “

Have you visited Big Stone Lake park? It’s over on the South Dakota border. Fossilized shark teeth have been found in the park. Explore that aspect of the park by reading a book that has a fossil.

They are pretty open – and are completely flexible. Nobody will judge whether you are reading the “right” book or a “good” book – whatever those might be. We’re just here to find books and enjoy them.

We’re not setting a time limit on this, so join us in reading a book any time. Then come tell us about it right there on the Goodreads page, and we can all admire the book!

And, while we can’t post photos to Goodreads, we would LOVE to see your pictures as you visit parks across this great state. So send them to us, so we can celebrate your adventures with you!

Happy reading! Visit a library and a park this weekend for the BEST Minnesota experience!

(Small note: sorry, this one got long. But I promise it goes fast, and gives a lot of good info! )

Lance

I like Lance Armstrong.

Whew. That felt weird and kind of embarrassing to say.

And of course – it’s not entirely true. Because….yeah. He’s kind of icky.

I’ve been a very devoted cycling fan for years. Multiple times, I watched Lance ride across France for three weeks, dodging cars and motorcycles and fans lining the roads, over mountains, really fast in time trials – and I cheered on every second of it. It was exciting to watch an American team triumph over the Europeans, and beat them literally at their own game (race). And at the head of that team was Lance. Everyone else on that team was there for one purpose: to put Lance into Paris three weeks later, on top of the podium. It was glorious. I screamed, watching my little computer screen.

He had rivals in the peloton (group of cyclists), and was great to see him outmaneuver and outlast Jan Ulrich (Germany) and Ivan Basso (Italy) and other challengers. He didn’t always win every day, but he won the big overall prize of the yellow jersey in the Tour de France a record-shattering SEVEN TIMES, IN A ROW!

It was amazing! It was great to be a part of that!!

But..yeah. I would never want to know him in real life.

I’m guessing you did not take the time to read through the Reasoned Decision that lead to him being completely banned for life from cycling. It was 200+ pages, and it was very successful in tearing down every last shred of respect I had for Lance and for his “coach” (that’s not quite the right word for cycling; but it’s close enough).

It was sickening to read what was going on while I was cheering on Lance and his team. And I’ll tell you: I did literally cry in places while I read the testimony of some of the people who talked about the things he did to destroy their professional careers and their lives.

He’s a terrible person. He’s done terrible things. He’s pretty candid about it now – how he very deliberately set out to ruin the lives of the people he considered his enemies, or people who were dangerous to him and to his ambitions. (From my perspective, he doesn’t seem to fully understand why these things are problems; but he does know that everyone else thinks this is bad behavior. So, that’s…good?) Some of the people he hurt have forgiven him. But those terrible things are still there, they still happened.

He makes me ill. He’s not someone I would ever know. He’s cheated, lied, and been destructive. And still: in my mind he’s won the Tour de France seven times in a row – ASO’s cycling governance be damned. I saw it, and it was great.

So, I get it.

People want to root for their team – logic does not always play the role that we might wish for.

Sometimes your team recruits a great person, and it’s sunshine and roses as you ride to victory. Yay!

And sometimes your team brings in someone who…wins? But is terrible. It gets easy to overlook the terrible parts, because the good parts are so good!

But, cycling doesn’t really matter at all. It’s fun – but it doesn’t MATTER in changing the world. So I can uneasily be happy with Lance’s victories, and it’s irrelevant outside of my own personal moral uncomfortable feelings.

Governing our country matters. It’s important. And it needs to be done well. We don’t want criminals running the government – and if that happens, there is a process to deal with it so we can get better people in there.

We’ve all been inundated with words, words, words the last few weeks (and months and years) – and I think it’s too easy for meaning to get lost in that storm of words.

Because, in the end – this is really easy.

Of course, we at CMLE don’t care who you vote for in any election! All candidates and elected officials should be library supporters – so do your part to remind everyone that libraries are for the benefit of the communities they serve. “Yay Libraries!” is our political stand, and nothing else. Anyone can, and should support libraries.

As a librarian, my professional mission is Information Literacy. I’m here to help people find a storm of words and ideas, to identify the important parts, and to make sense of it for themselves.

I think the impeachment situation could use a librarian.

Let’s break this down, and really understand the meaning – not just the word storm. (Click below to go to page two!)

Hello! Thank you for joining us on Reading With Libraries! We’re so glad you could be here to enjoy our book group podcast.

Check out our full show notes page here!

This week we’re discussing narrative nonfiction. We are so glad to welcome back Leah from State Library Services!

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