Are you familiar with the award-winning children's story The Very Hungry Caterpillar? Another
story I heard could be called The Very
Hungry Mind. There was a 12-year-old
in Regina who spotted a rare bird. When
interviewed, Nick Selinger sounded perplexed when asked how he knew it was a
Eurasian Tree Sparrow. He knew because
his birding book confirmed his observations.
Like the hungry caterpillar, Nick had a hungry mind. He became interested in owls after reading a
fiction book. He read all the owl books but
he was still hungry. He read all the
raptor books but he was still hungry. Then
he started to read all the books about birds.
His local library and librarian had a central role in feeding his hungry
mind.
As fields of knowledge grow, hungry minds begin to make
connections that lead to innovations.
While we credit a particular innovation to a particular innovator, history
shows that commonly others were making the same connections and the innovation
was inevitable.
Libraries and librarians are organized to feeding hungry
minds in a way the internet cannot. The Saskatchewan government cuts to
libraries risks cutting innovations. The
low hanging fruits they thought they were harvesting are the seeds we need for
future innovations. Visit your local library or the Action Centre http://savesasklibraries.ca to learn how
you can help reverse the cuts.
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