For a short time patrons can now try their hand at catching fish at the Clearwater Library, thanks to the Rural Library Traveling Exhibit. 

The Rural Library Traveling Exhibit is a rotating exhibit created through a partnership between Great River Regional Library (GRRL) and Great River Children’s Museum (GRCM). Seven pop-up exhibits will be rotating through all the libraries in the GRRL system, starting with 21 libraries considered to be in rural, low-income areas. 

Each exhibit reflects one of the seven different exhibits being developed for the permanent location of the museum in St. Cloud. All of the traveling exhibit pieces include hands-on activities as well, and are meant to prompt learning, exploration, and play, and create connections between Minnesota’s communities and cultures.

The purpose of the Rural Library Traveling Exhibit is to introduce and share the potential of future museum exhibits, programming, and experiences with the people GRCM hopes to serve once the museum opens.

The Clearwater Library is one of the first libraries chosen to host the exhibits, which are rotated approximately every two weeks.

“We are really excited to be in the first round of libraries to host the Great River Children’s Museum exhibits,” said Clearwater Librarian Shelly Kuelbs. “This a great way for the community to hear about the museum opening and enjoy an introduction to these interactive exhibits close to home.”

Clearwater has already hosted the ‘Everyday Engineering’ exhibit and is currently displaying ‘Headwaters’ through June 4. The schedule for the remaining exhibits are ‘Great Explorers’ June 6-18, ‘Cloud Climber’ June 20-July 2, ‘Great Big River’ July 5-16, ‘Tinker Workshop’ July 18-30, and ‘Community Connections’ August 1-13. 

This first group of seven libraries will have exhibit pieces until approximately August 13. The following week the exhibit materials will be prepared for the next seven libraries, of which Big Lake is one. 

Not yet open to the public, the Great River Children’s Museum will deliver learning experiences through exhibits and environments, live programs, a co-learning resource center, initiatives, and outreach. The museum is located in the old Liberty Bank building in downtown St. Cloud. For more information, visit GreatRiverCM.org.