Library Educational Programs (1 hour visit)

Description

How to properly conduct research and use primary sources are vital skills, and for students in Maine, the Brown Research Library at Maine Historical Society is perfect place to develop and practice those skills. MHS offers a variety of programming based at our research library that provide students with hands-on experience in the study and analysis of artifacts, conducting original research, and interpreting primary sources.

Show and Tell programs offer a chance to see up close a sampling of primary sources on a specific topic (event, time period, historical figure, etc.) from Maine Historical Society's collection, and also provide students with an introductory visit to the MHS research library. Requested materials will be waiting for students when they arrive for their visit and library and museum staff will be on hand to help students approach and examine the materials.

A Class/Group Research Session is designed to help larger groups of students studying a specific topic to access and use historic materials from MHS's collection as part of their learning experience. Materials on the topic requested will be waiting for students when they arrive for their visit and library and museum staff will be on hand to help students explore and study the materials as needed. For example, for a Social Studies class learning about abolition in Maine, library staff might display abolitionist or Civil War era newspapers, manuscript materials that discuss the topic, even relevant illustrations and photographs. Students would be invited to examine and study these resources as historical researchers.

Induvial Student/Small Groups Research Sessions are designed to aid classes with assigned individual or small team research projects on a variety of topics. For these specialized visits, the MHS library can accommodate individual students or 2-4 person small teams who might all be researching different topics at the same time. While library staff will need to know topics in advance and can have some materials pre-selected for students upon arrival, this program is also designed to provide more individual guidance for participating students, as well as allowing library staff to retrieve additional materials at the request of the students during their visit. Participating teachers and students are also encouraged search the MHS library catalog and provide a request list of possible materials prior to their visit.

Please call 207-774-1822 ext. 214 for the most up-to-date information regarding the format and pricing of this program.
Available for educational/school groups year round. 1 hour. Recommended for 3rd-12th grade. The library can accommodate groups of up to approximately 20 students and 1-2 adult chaperones at a time. Cost: up to 15 students = $75; 16-30 students = $150; 31-50 students = $225.