Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal

Cosmic Curiosity: Why collaborating with libraries results in impactful family engagement with astronomy (page 09)
O’Flynn, N.

The University of Hertfordshire Department of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics (PAM) Outreach and Public Engagement (OPE) Team offer wide-ranging and impactful activities and events. The Team’s goal is to support and maintain the science capital of young people in underserved and underrepresented communities in physics, astronomy and maths with the hopes they will one day study one of these subjects at a higher level. A young person’s decision to choose to continue with the physical sciences is a complex one, but their parents or carers have a great deal of influence. However, in astronomy, we often leave parents and carers out of our outreach. Public libraries, on the other hand, often specifically target families and offer a welcoming and informal setting to learn. For example, they often run storytelling sessions for young families, though these are rarely focused on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Therefore, libraries promise enormous potential for STEM and astronomy outreach with young children aged 4-7 and their parents and carers. From this realisation, Cosmic Curiosity: Stories that Spark the Imagination was created in collaboration with the Hertfordshire Library Services. In this article, we will demonstrate how engaging families in libraries results in impactful and sustainable engagement.

Suggested Citation (APA)
O’Flynn, N. (2023). Cosmic Curiosity: Why collaborating with libraries results in impactful family engagement with astronomy. Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal, 32, 9-14. https://www.capjournal.org/issues/32/32_09.pdf