PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — On Wednesday, millions of Americans celebrated Earth Day, including Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Youth Services Librarian Melissa St. Pierre, who gave a live rendition of Dr. Seuss’s 1971 book “The Lorax.”
Broadcasting live from the library’s Facebook page, St. Pierre provided an energetic performance of the classic book, which educators often use to teach young children about environmentalism.
Calling it one of her favorite days of the year, St. Pierre prefaced the reading with some background information about the creation of Earth Day in 1970. She occasionally stopped her reading to explain the book’s message to listeners.
It was a simple setup: St. Pierre — who is working from home because of precautions related to the COVID-19 pandemic — read the book from her living room, accompanied only by her cat, Rupert.
St. Pierre said she began doing live storytimes from her home twice a week since the library closed to the public in March. She said “The Lorax” was a natural choice for an Earth Day reading because of its strong environmental message.
It’s a book she had long been familiar with. St. Pierre, who grew up in Caswell, said she remembers checking it out from the Robert A. Frost Memorial Library in nearby Limestone around the age of 6.
Many years later, she said she was excited to share the book’s message to a whole new audience of youngsters.
“This is a great way to introduce young children to thinking about the planet that we live on,” St. Pierre said. “The creatures that inhabit this planet and taking care of nature.”
Earth Day — which primarily celebrates protection of the environment — was first celebrated in the United States in 1970, amid a burgeoning environmental movement that also saw the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in December of that year.
At the time of “The Lorax’s” publishing, environmental issues like wildlife preservation, air pollution and acid rain were far more familiar to Americans than today’s defining issue of climate change.
Nearly 50 years after it was published, St. Pierre said book’s message continues to resonate, even as discourse on environmental issues has shifted.
“I think it’s a book that has carried over time,” St. Pierre said. “We are really focused on climate change at this time, but I think it still really works as well for children now as it did back in the ‘70s.”
