The Jackson/Hinds Library System is adding solar energy education programming using a $5,000 grant from Apex Clean Energy. The new material will be part of the library system’s science, technology, reading, engineering and math program—also known as STREAM.
The grant, which Apex Clean Energy presented on Aug. 14, is designated for the western Hinds County library branches, which serve the Edwards, Raymond, Utica and Quisenberry libraries.
Jackson/Hinds librarian Willette Jacobs hopes to use the money to engage parents through their children and to educate them about solar energy.
“I understand that we have some people who are conflicted about solar (energy), but we are kind of moving forward in this world,” Jacobs told the Mississippi Free Press on Sept. 18. “I felt that maybe as a library system, if we could also have some information and teach people about the benefits of solar, we wouldn’t be as hesitant about it.”
The Apex Clean Energy Community Grant Program offers grants ranging from $1,000 and $10,000 to educators, entrepreneurs and those Apex defines as “changemakers.” The award amount depends on the community’s needs and the application. Apex Clean Energy awards the grants in areas it serves across the country. This particular program prioritizes applications and entities that benefit Hinds County residents in and around Apex Clean Energy’s Soul City Solar project area.
“We know that these renewable energy projects, when they’re built, are going to be long-term fixtures in the community for 20 or 30 years of operation and deliver huge benefits once they’re operational,” Apex Clean Energy Director of Public Engagement Brian O’Shea told the Mississippi Free Press on Sept. 19. “But we don’t like waiting until they’re fully operational to start getting invested and getting connected in the community.”
Jacobs, who oversees partnerships and programming for the library system’s county branches, hosts a monthly STREAM education hour for students at the Utica library. STREAM incorporates reading into the science, technology, engineering and math curriculum. Each Saturday at the Utica library branch, Jacobs pairs children’s books with hands-on activities. She has led lessons where students built structures using Perler beads, Keva planks, LEGOs and even pretzels. They have created elephant toothpaste, lava lamps and slime. Children take home an art project related to the day’s activities.
“We just do a ton of things just to get kids excited about science, math and engineering,” Jacobs said. “… And these activities are free. We try to have something free so that our parents can come out, bring their kids and just kind of enjoy a day out.”
Providing Lessons Outside the Classroom
Each branch of the library system hosts a STREAM activity on a scheduled day each week. The Jackson/Hinds Library System will use the grant to purchase solar education kits and other supplies for workshops for students interested in learning about energy. They will also offer training sessions for personnel.
“We’re going to purchase some solar kits in which the kids will build the cars, but they will have solar batteries,” Willette Jacobs said. “We will also take some of those grant funds to update reading material that relates to solar because, as I said, we always want to tie it back to reading. Then we’ll still have the arts activities.”
Jacobs also plans to bring activities into local schools to raise awareness about library programs for children who may not be able to attend library sessions. She believes incorporating solar energy into the curriculum will have an even greater effect on the small rural branches by introducing more people to the library’s offerings.
“Anytime we get a grant, the impact is just massive,” Jacobs said. “You meet another group that starts coming in and using your library service. … Then they start to realize all of what you have here, the books, the movies (and) the free computer time.”
O’Shea emphasized the company looks for ways to invest in the areas they serve. Besides the grants, Apex Clean Energy may offer additional support to the library system.
“Sometimes our involvement can be minimal, but if people want help, we want to help,” Apex’s Brian O’Shea said. “We want to get kits donated, and then we want to have staff time for folks to come in and help do a presentation, help do a class, help staff at events, help participate in a community cleanup. We might sponsor trash pickup. Sometimes we’ll have volunteer hours and staff time that go towards these projects as well, and sometimes it’s purely funding. So it depends on what the organization is looking to do and what involvement and extra support they need from us.”
Solar Energy Farm to Bring Jobs, Revenue to Hinds County
Apex Clean Energy is developing Soul City Solar, a 396-megawatt solar farm planned for construction on private land in Hinds County. Once completed, Apex expects it to generate enough energy to power over 95,000 homes annually.
Officials say the facility will bring long-term economic benefits to Hinds County including up to $150 million in tax revenue. In the first 30 years of operation, Soul City Solar and Soul City Storage combined could contribute more than $70 million to local schools.
Still, the project drew objections from some before Hinds County supervisors approved it in June, with residents asking questions about how it could affect wildlife and property values.
The company, founded in 2009, launched its Community Grant Program in 2017. It has awarded about $4.2 million in grants to 325 qualified not-for-profit organizations across the United States.
“The goal is to help organizations that are making a positive impact on the community,” Apex Clean Energy Public Engagement Manager Quita Bride told the Mississippi Free Press on Sept. 19.
The community grants focus on four specific areas: safe and healthy communities, economic development, environmental sustainability and promoting education.
“I know that resources can be limited for a lot of organizations, and even when they’re trying to tap into other avenues to get funding to support the community, even then, you could come across something that’s already been given out to everybody and they’re depleted,” Bride said. “So what I see the grants doing is being another piece of support, a piece of security when they’re trying to make their initiatives happen to help the greater good.”
Jacobs, the librarian, added that the funds are another way for the library to strengthen its connection with the community.
“It is up to us to nurture our next scientific children,” Jacobs said. “So the library has a role to play in that, and that’s what we are doing when we try to find endeavors and do things like this to get that next group thinking and from early ages on up about what STREAM looks like.”
Apex Clean Energy also awarded grants to the Hinds County Public School District Foundation, Operation Shoestring, the Town of Bolton Pocket Park/The Art of Refinement Foundation, Clinton Community Christian Corporation, Mississippi College and the We Are One United Methodist Church.
