Human Progress

Kindergartens were a progressive 19th century innovation to nurture children. Their success validated the new ideal that all children flourish with proper care, cultivation and conditions. These "children's gardens" grew with the simultaneous shift to democracy, dismantling of slavery, and universal free education.

The Rise of Public Libraries has marked leaps in all fields of human understanding - science, business, arts & technology - since clay tablets were gathered and later destroyed in Mesopotamia. In the 19th century, industrialist, Andrew Carnegie, financed free public libraries all over America and farm schools were developed in Mid-Western communities to teach students through the lens of agriculture as they worked on the land with their families.

The Rise of Environmentalism indicates the recognition of the fragility of our natural endowment that inspired Teddy Roosevelt to establish the National Park System.

Growing A LIVING LIBRARY is an evolution of these movements to create nurturing, stimulating, ecological & sustainable resources. A LIVING LIBRARY encourages understanding of the natural world and the dynamic developments created by people.