New to a Library Near You- WISE Discovery Packs

By Jolene Nashlund

Are you ready to Learn, Grow, Get Outside, and Discover? WISE has just the adventure for you all tucked into a backpack and ready to help you identify and explore! WISE “Discovery Packs” are science and nature themed backpacks for explorers of all ages. They are filled with field guides, fun books to read, games, activities, and all the equipment you will need for your self-navigated adventure.
Discovery Packs can be found at the Kenny Lake Public Library, the Copper Valley Library, and the Valdez Consortium Library for patrons to check out. Each library is equipped with STEM based Discovery Packs; sound, magnetism, electricity, and simple machines in addition to area specific nature subjects.
At Kenny Lake, adventurers can check out new Discovery Packs that are filled with fun and educational knowledge about Insects, Plants, Mammals, and Birds. Spoiler Alert! Within the Bird Discovery Pack, birdwatchers can use the binoculars to glimpse their winged friend, identify it using the various field guides, and record their discovery on the bird observation datasheets enclosed. Did you spy with your little eye a nest? Try to identify the builder and learn all about nests and why some eggs look the way they do. “Owl” this is waiting for you to discover at a library near you!
The Copper Valley Library in Glennallen will have five new Discovery Packs to check out; Aquatic Ecology, Plants, Mammals, Birds, and Geology. Spoiler Alert! Are you looking to “pick” up some new minerals or rocks? The WISE Geology pack is filled with rockhounding guides and equipment just waiting to help find your next gem or fossil! The pack contains a hammer, chisels, a trowel, and safety goggles -along with books containing directions to rockhounding locations all around Alaska. Rock on!
At the Valdez Consortium Library, discovery abounds within the Mammals, Plants, Birds, and Tidal Pool Discovery Packs. Spoiler Alert! “Shell” we tell you all about this fun filled pack? Whether you are beachcombing or exploring the tidal pool, this pack has it all; field guides, a net, petri dishes, droppers and magnifying glasses all to assist you in identifying shells or the marine invertebrates you can find within the tide pool. Remember, to be kind, and return organisms unharmed back to the cool of the pool please. From barnacles to kelp, there are books that will help -you identify your discovery!
Additional funding for WISE Discovery Packs was generously donated by Alyeska Pipeline Service Company and the Copper Valley Electric Association Community Foundation. Thank you so much for supporting WISE’s endeavor to provide fun science and nature educational experiences for the whole family! 

Inside the WISE Valdez Plant Discovery Pack.