Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall Holds 4th annual Earth Day Celebration

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in environmentalism. My childhood home sat just across the river from Three Mile Island, site of an infamous partial nuclear meltdown four years before I was born. My parents, a couple of idealistic young hippie types, routinely took our family off into the woods for camping and hiking expeditions, and expected both of their sons to do their share of planting and weeding in our large vegetable garden.

My teacher in first grade was an energetic gray-haired lady who volunteered with a group working to monitor acid rain in Pennsylvania, and it wasn’t long before we were joining her to take stream samples on the weekends. It was around this time that I can remember first hearing about “the greenhouse effect” — what we call climate change today.

Today I’m a parent, and these topics feel even more pressing and personal. I’m grateful that there seems to be wider understanding of the issues, even as the will to find real solutions remains frustratingly elusive. That’s why every year I look forward to a special event that celebrates the joy and fun of nature and ecology while empowering people with vital information and resources: the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall’s annual Earth Day celebration!

This will be our fourth year holding an Earth Day event, and it promises to be a memorable one! The festivities begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 20, and will last through 3 p.m. Come learn about gardening, composting, native plants, and succulent care, pick out some seeds from our seed library, enjoy environmental crafts, caricatures, food, games, double-dutch jump-roping and face-painting – there’s something for everyone!

We’ll round out the afternoon with a stellar musical performance from our yet-to-be-named guest artist – keep an eye on CarnegieCarnegie.org for the announcement of our guest.

This year, I’m particularly excited about a special guest lecture that will take place at 1 p.m. Donora Smog Museum curator Brian Charlton will share the gripping tale of the deadly smog that blanketed the small mill-town of Donora over five days in 1948. Twenty-one people died and hundreds more were sickened. We’ve just passed the first anniversary of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, when large amounts of hazardous chemicals were dumped and burned off … the parallels between these two airborne toxic events also recall the airborne covid virus. It’s a powerful reminder that we share our air as we share our broader environment – to a certain extent, we are all in this together.

Finally, I’d be remiss not to mention that our Earth Day celebration falls just a week after the conclusion of National Library Week (April 7-13). During that week, keep an eye out for special book-themed displays in the windows of participating businesses on Main Street. When you shop at these locations on Friday, April 12, you’ll receive tickets for a raffle that we’ll hold at 2 p.m. during our Earth Day celebration – lucky participants will win special gift baskets contributed by the participating businesses! This is a wonderful opportunity to shop locally while supporting the Carnegie Carnegi e… we hope you’ll take part!

As I conclude this article, it’s a lovely spring day outside of my office window. The sun is bright, and I can see blooming daffodils and forsythia just across Beechwood Avenue. What a privilege and joy to get to experience this beautiful planet. My hope is that events like our Earth Day celebration will help inspire people of all ages to a life of stewardship and appreciation of our precious Earth. Please join us on April 20 and help us celebrate.

— Walker Evans, Library Director.