Promotional poster for ‘The Dust Bowl.’ Courtesy/PBSMPL News:
The Library will screen the Ken Burns film “The Dust Bowl,” free, as a lead-in to a major exhibit which will open in early January. “Dust, Drought, and Dreams Gone Dry,” a national traveling exhibition about the causes and aftermath of the historic Dust Bowl period, will be on display at Mesa Public Library from Jan. 7 to Feb. 20.
“Dust, Drought, and Dreams Gone Dry” will be accompanied by a series of free library programs, including lectures and film screenings. The first film screening, of the Ken Burns Film “The Dust Bowl,” is 12:30-4:20 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 28 in the Upstairs Meeting Rooms at Mesa Public Library.
The exhibition recalls a tragic period in our history — the drought and dust storms that wreaked havoc on the Great Plains in the 1930s — and explores its environmental and cultural consequences. It raises several thought-provoking questions: What caused fertile farms to turn to dust? How did people survive? What lessons can we learn?
Mesa Public Library is one of 25 sites throughout the United States and one of only two in New Mexico selected to present the exhibition and associated public programs in their communities.
The Los Alamos Chapter of the American Association of University Women, the Pajarito Environmental Education Center, the Los Alamos Historical Society and the Los Alamos Retired and Senior Organization all provided support in bringing the exhibit to Los Alamos.
The exhibition was organized by the American Library Association Public Programs Office, the Oklahoma State University Library, and the Mount Holyoke College Library. It was made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
The Upstairs Art Gallery at Mesa Public Library hosts shows by local and regional artists, as well as travelling exhibits, ten to twelve times each year. The Friends of the Los Alamos County Library System support the Gallery and many other programs.
