When thinking of the library, one might imagine quiet corridors and dusty shelves filled with books long unopened, or perhaps cardigan-wearing old women, smelling of mothballs, peering over their bifocals, sternly shushing patrons. While this cartoonishly unsettling picture can be a fun trope, libraries are often thriving community centers.
Wherever you are, it’s likely worth it to check out the activities and resources offered by your local library. For Eastern students, it certainly is. Kathy Hecht, the Access Services Librarian at Eastern’s Warner Library, shares some of the effort and intentionality that Eastern’s librarians put into creating a welcoming, productive, fun, and educational environment for students. She and Robyn Cunningham, Warner’s Reference & Outreach Librarian, were the initial advocates for Warner’s latest duckling-hatching initiative.
“Robyn and I were at the Pennsylvania Librarians Association conference back in October, and the farm that we’re working with was there. They had a display and all these baby ducklings, and they’re like, ‘We can set up a whole project with you.’”
Hecht and Cunningham were looking for a follow-up to the library’s Lego project, where student tips vote for what community member is added to the Lego-replica of Eastern. They saw the duckling hatching as an exciting, interactive activity that could connect to the classrooms, too.
“So then we called the Biology department, and Dr. Fichera came over—we let other departments like Elementary Ed and Psychology know too—and they’re giving credit for volunteering and integrating it into some of their classes.”
Students were able to volunteer to rotate the eggs in the incubator to mimic the rustling of a mother duck, and later to babysit and care for the ducklings. The first duckling hatched Sunday evening of April 13. Students (initially there for the ducklings, but eventually choosing to study) and student workers were there to see the miracle of life, as well as the viewers on the library’s livestream of the incubator.
Warner is also currently hosting their Blackout Poetry contest through the end of April, where students can submit poems created from words selectively not blackened out on discarded book pages. Later in the month, they will be bringing in dogs for students to visit during the pre-finals study day. These are just some of the many events and projects they host throughout the year.
Some Eastern community members may recall the “Blind Date with a Book” initiative hosted in February, where students may check out books with nothing but a brief genre description to inform their selection, or their various voting programs deciding the best books or characters within a given genre. Recent changes also include the dedicated chess set and recreational reading lounge in the first floor atrium. These are among the many programs the Warner librarians think of to engage students in.
“Research has shown that when students are in the library, even if they’re not sitting and studying, it still raises their grade point average. There’s something about watching other people study and feeling like this is your identity as a ‘library person’ actually helps you in school. So that’s another reason for all of the fun things. We want everyone to feel like, ‘Yes, I’m a library person. I might be a duck person, I might like those books. I’m a library person.’”
The librarians are also looking forward to integrating a scavenger hunt within the library, particularly aimed at getting first-year students to simultaneously have fun and become familiar with the layout and resources of the library.
“We’ll take suggestions about what people are interested in,” Hecht shares. As for the duckling hatchings, “We might think about doing it again. The farm we’re working with does other things like chickens and a bunny project.”
Many thanks to the Warner librarians like Hecht and Cunningham who curate such programs for students to enjoy. Students may follow Warner Library on Instagram @warner.library for updates on events, programs, and more.
Josh Steen 
Hannah Gerber 
Emily Lichius