ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Summer reading officially begins next week for the Liberal community, and a group of mad scientists will help kick off the fun.
Mad Science will be making its way to Liberal Memorial Library Monday, June 3 as part of the library's kickoff party, and the show will start at 2 p.m. Coordinator Derick Brock said he and his fellow scientists had fun putting together this year’s show.
“The theme for this year's summer reading program is all about adventuring and two years from now, the theme will center on dinosaurs. Because we like dinosaurs so much, and because the children who come to the library in the summer tend to be a little younger, they're at that age where they want to explore and learn all about dinosaurs,” Brock said. “We decided to write a really big show over the course of two years and break it into two parts, so this year is the dinosaur show part one. Our take on this is we've got terrible news, because in reality, 'dinosaur' means 'terrible lizard.' We start with that, and it throws the children off just a little bit, and then we talk about how dinosaurs hatch and what their early lives are like. 'Dinosaur' is a very generic term for types of animals that lived thousands of years ago and thousands of years apart, so it's not like we can just look at all these different species and say they all grew up in the same place during the same era. We’ll talk about paleontologists and what all work they do, and we also highlight the differences between a paleontologist and an archaeologist, because paleontology focuses on the study of dinosaurs while archaeology is more broad and can focus on any point in history. There are still discoveries being made even today in this part of the country, and it's absolutely fascinating, and we'll also talk about some of the methods used for digging for fossils. The show is very interactive and exciting, and there's a lot we'll be talking about, including some of the theories about what caused the dinosaurs to go extinct. The librarians who help come up with the theme every year are amazing, and we think libraries overall are amazing because they offer just so, so much. When I was young, my parents both worked during the summer, and since I was by myself, I spent a lot of time at the library reading and learning, and the nice ladies at the library helped me learn how everything was organized and where I could find what I needed and everything else.”
The team has made its way to Liberal in the past, and Brock said everyone is excited to come back to town for this summer.
“Last year, we'd partnered with a company called Finer Arts, which takes the same concepts we do and adds more of a theatrical component to what they do – while we do have some elements of theatre, fun, and staging, we have a strong focus on science. They've also got a program called Choose Your Own Adventure, and there are some towns that will see that presentation,” Brock said. “We love going to Liberal because since we're from the Oklahoma City area, there are a lot of fantastic educational opportunities such as the zoo, the science museum, sports and other activities, but when we go to Liberal, it's almost like we're superstars, and we always get a great reception. We love bringing these educational opportunities to communities that maybe don't have as much of that access, that's always the best part. This year, we got excited enough to do some extra digging, so to speak, and really come up with a great show that will span more than just this coming summer, because we can definitely tell the children in the audience to be sure and come back so they can see the rest of what we've put together, because we know it's going to be amazing.”
With everything that will be featured in the show, Brock said he hopes to see a big audience, and added said everyone who comes out should have a great time.
“This show is millions of years in the making. This is a show we've been working on for a long time, and we're excited to bring this to the children's level so they can get excited and maybe even ask their parents 'Can I have a toothbrush so I can look for fossils in the backyard?'” Brock said with a chuckle. “The goal of Mad Science is to be the spark that encourages children to go out and explore and learn, and I think we do a great job of that with this show. And the library is a great platform for us to spread that message. If we can get these children excited about just one aspect of the library and learning more, I think that's the most important factor. When I was growing up, I went to summer camp and got to be gone quite a bit, but I know not every child has that opportunity. Every summer has parents asking what they can have their children do while they're at work, and especially activities that won't cost them an arm and a leg. Libraries have really stepped up and made themselves a great place for children to go so they won't be bored, and Liberal's library especially always has an amazing program from what we've seen every year that includes singers and other performers and other activities. We're just one part of a very exciting program these libraries put together, and that's just so important for the children. When I can get onstage and plug the next performers, I know they'd do the same thing for me, because we're all working together to do something great for these children.”
