The Kokomo-Howard County Public Library has always been in the business of spreading knowledge and encouraging education. But saving the bee population? That’s something you might not expect.
But that’s exactly what library officials have been up to since earlier this year, when the library system received a $10,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Howard County.
The money gave the library enough funding to launch a new program called “Grow the Solution Together,” which aims to raise awareness about the plight of pollinators and help curb the alarming problem of a declining bee population.
And it is a serious problem, said Lisa Fipps, the library’s director of marketing and community engagement.
Since the late 1990s, beekeepers around the world have observed the mysterious and sudden disappearance of bees, and have reported unusually high rates of decline in honeybee colonies, according to Greenpeace, a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over 40 countries.
Just since 2006, the U.S. has lost 40 percent of its commercial honeybee population, the organization said.
Those are alarming statistics, considering pollinators, including birds and butterflies, provide pollination services to over 180,000 different plant species and more than 1,200 crops.
That means that one out of every three bites of food you eat is there because of pollinators, according to Pollinator Partnership, a nonprofit that aims to create sustainable ecosystems for bees.
In terms of money, pollinators add $217 billion to the global economy, and honeybees alone are responsible for between $1.2 billion and $5.4 billion in agricultural productivity in the United States.
Boosting local populations
The numbers are startling, and they’re the reason why the library has decided to spearhead an effort to help save the local population of pollinators.
“The library is the perfect organization to lead the project," Fipps said. “Our staff creates programs all year long to educate people about a variety of topics. Why not use some of our time to make people aware of the pollinator crisis, educate them about pollinators, and show them the steps they can take to help?”
The cornerstone of the outreach this year was giving away nearly 2,000 plants native to Indiana that encourage a healthy pollinating ecosystem, she said.
Those plants included butterfly weed, sweet black-eyed Susan, wild bergamot, smooth aster, fall sunflower, blue-false indigo and blazing-prairie star.
The library held seven give-away days from March to June at places like the Kokomo Farmers Market, the Strawberry Festival, the community garage sale and the library’s summer reading kickoff party, where anyone could receive one of the plants for free, and buy additional ones for just $2.
At every give-away event, a member of the Howard County Master Gardner Association was on hand to educate people on the best way to grow and nurture the plants to have the biggest impact on helping the pollinator population.
“They were great volunteers for us,” Fipps said. “They were amazingly good.”
The library also gave away plants to the Carver Center, the Kokomo Housing Authority, the city parks department, and students at Bon Air Elementary and Western School Corporation.
Fipps said the library wasn’t sure what kind of response to expect from the community when it first started the program. Library officials first ordered 700 plants to give away, but after those sold out in no time at all, they ordered up another 1,230.
Those all went fast, too. Fipps said they probably could have given away even more if they had ordered them.
“Whenever we talked to people, we thought we’d have to persuade them to be a part of the program,” she said. “Nothing could be further from the truth. As soon as we said, ‘We want to help save pollinators and increase the number of native plants in the community,’ people said, ‘Count us in.’”
Looking forward to next year
With the success of the program this year, the library is gearing up to give away another huge batch of plants next year.
There’s also new programs scheduled that will bring in experts to show people how to take care of native plants, and discuss beekeeping and how to start a new bee colony.
But there will likely be a lot more going on with the program next year.
“It’s difficult to say all that will be involved with ‘Grow the Solution,’ because the more we talk about it, the more ideas people have,” Fipps said. “That’s a good problem to have.”
Library Director Faith Brautigam said it’s been amazing to the see the enthusiasm from the community about the program, and it’s exciting the library has spearheaded an effort on a global issue.
“'Grow the Solution Together' empowers us to act locally while thinking globally,” she said. “I am excited about the impact this project will have on our community, in growing understanding and encouraging action.”