Every month, Lake Effect will be highlighting a librarian in our new series with the Milwaukee Public Library.
Kelly Bolter was previously the branch manager at the Tippecanoe Library. Now, she works at Central as a Library Services Manager and helps lead the monthly Climate Action Book Club.
Bolter says the Climate Action Book Club was created after the Milwaukee Public Library received a grant at the beginning of the year. "A club was created as a way to have the conversation around climate change and climate issues within our various communities in Milwaukee — facilitated by the library. But also more importantly, as a way to amplify people of color in these conversations. Very often white voices tend to dominate conversations around climate change, and climate action," says Bolter.
Bolter recommends reading The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Natureby J. Drew Lanham. She describes the book as a memoir which follows Lanham's journey as he navigates the environment in the South.
Bolter says, "It's so immediate, and it's so thoughtful, all of our choices have an impact on the environment, you know, whether that is wildlife displacement ... more subtle impacts that you might have with vegetable farming, and agriculture. I just, I cannot recommend it enough."
The monthly Climate Action Book Club takes place at 6 p.m. Anyone interested in participating can register here.
Bolter says, "Humans have an impact on the environment and the environment is responding now to disasters that are happening in real time. And so it's our responsibility to be respectful as stewards of the land — use things appropriately and respectfully."
