The Power of Partnership

Backpacks and Beyond:

By Megan Donahue

Summer at Brushwood Center has a signature item for the It’s A W.I.N (Arts and Wellness in Nature) team. Beach towels? No. Sunscreen? Nope. 

Backpacks.

This year, Brushwood and a network of dedicated community partners teamed up to distribute 1,300 Nature Explorer Backpacks/ Mochilas de Explorador. These backpacks were filled with supplies and resources to encourage families to explore the natural spaces around them through activities focused on nurturing wellness and creativity.

Juan Diaz is the Community Engagement Coordinator, and Sandra Lopez is the Communications and Organizational Development Director at the Round Lake Area Public Library. We sat down with them to talk about our collaboration, which grew from summer backpack distributions to a year-round multi-faceted partnership.

What does the partnership between Brushwood Center and the Round Lake Area Public Library look like?

Juan Diaz: We originally started with Brushwood offering the Nature Explorer Backpack program. We hosted a program here where we talked a little bit about education/nature, and then we would give out the backpacks to the participants. Once we saw how successful that program was, we decided to do other nature programs. We started meeting quarterly and we would do other one-off programs. The last one we did was Scavenger Hunt. 

We’re actually lucky that we’re right next door to the park district, and we have a woods area behind the library-a part of it has been made into a trail.

So we went to the trail and we were able to take a small group back there, and Brushwood came in and was able to share their expertise on nature and how to look at the leaves or the birds. From that program, Brushwood also developed their Little Explorer backpacks, and then they were able to give us four backpacks. We’ve just been building off from all the previous programs to either offer more nature programs or even resources that we can let our patrons borrow.

How does this partnership help you with your goals for community engagement at the library?

Sandra Lopez:  Brushwood has been a force that has helped us reach more people. Without Brushwood, we were limited by our reach because of funds and also because of manpower. The library and Brushwood have a similar vision in a lot of ways: we both value lifelong learning, the arts, science, things like that. So the partnership just makes sense. We’re very aligned.

JD: Partnering with Brushwood has allowed us to reach a lot more people who might have a specific niche with nature and art that we might have not been able to reach before. Out of the partnership, we were able to establish a lot of new programs, offer more resources.

SL: We value Brushwood’s creativity and generosity and just overall commitment to the community. The team has brought in a lot of tools to make it happen. So it’s definitely the partnership that’s rooted, in a lot of mutual respect and shared goals that inspire that connection to nature, that as a library, I don’t think we’d be able to necessarily do alone. Brushwood provides a lot of access to the nature tools, to the guidance on how to explore the outdoors. And the Nature Explorer and Little Explorer Backpacks have really been what has helped us bridge that gap so that every child can develop through play, and discover nature and wellness.

JD: Thanks to Brushwood  we’ve been able to reach different community needs. Like some patrons, were excited to use the backpacks since  it was close to the start of school, they could use it for that reason. There were other families who were really excited because the backpack was going to aid the parents to have tools for their children to use when they go outside and explore nature. Round Lake has a lot of nature trails, so that’s another resource that parents can have and use with their children. We were able to reach different interests and provide something for anyone.

BW: What is the impact of the Nature Explorer and Little Explorer Backpacks?

SL: They encourage observation, creativity, reflection, which aligns really beautifully with the library’s literacy and STEM and STEAM goals that we have in our strategic plan. The backpacks help us remove some of the barriers by giving families free access to the tools, or the ideas, or outdoor explanation. I know that sometimes as parents, we want our children to know more about nature, but we’re so disconnected sometimes that we don’t even know how. So I feel like the backpacks help bridge that gap for that “how” and explain or support mental wellness, curiosity, even physical health.

BW: Through this partnership, the library has invested in connecting the community with nature and the outdoors. Why?

SL: Yes, we’re a library and one of our values is literacy, but our second highest value is bridging the gap in the community. And part of that is connecting to nature, connecting to creativity, connecting to STEAM and STEM. Through this collaboration we’re helping the community, helping families build that deeper relationship with lifelong learning, with nature, with each other. Our partnership just shows what’s possible when two organizations come together with a shared purpose. Brushwood has brought their vision and their resources to the library, and together we’re creating this educational experience that I feel is very joyful for families who might not have been able to have it otherwise. And that’s really the heart of the partnership.

BW: How does the library contribute to community resilience?

JD: Going back to when we started this partnership with Brushwood, it started during COVID. That’s a good example of the resilience of both organizations, to come together and still meet the needs of the community in an entirely different way. It shows the adaptability of libraries and how no matter what hardships the community might be going through or just the world in general, the library will always be an institution that will be able to, or try our best to be,.a resource. Whether that be through books or partnering with organizations to provide more resources.

SL: I feel like the library’s resilience is within the community by being a consistent, reliable resource for learning, for connection, for support in times of uncertainty. Libraries are often the safe haven that provides access to the information, to the resources, sometimes even emotional support to help people either cope or cope and thrive. That often happens through educational programs, community events, resources like the Nature Explorer and Little Explorer Backpacks that encourage this outdoor learning exploration that we’ve been talking about.

We help individuals and families figure out challenges and build skills for resilience. I think we’re the connector that links people to services, to mental health resources, to tools that they might not otherwise be able to access. We’re not just books, right? Our role isn’t just about providing books. It’s about creating connections in an environment where people feel empowered, people feel informed, and people feel supported.

Check Out Little Explorer Backpacks at a Library Near You!