Benzies Shore Library's Pollinator Garden Comes to Life with Music!
Stacy Pasche’s view outside her office at Benzies Shore Library was once just a pile of dirt, but today, outside the Library Director’s office, there is a music garden designed to welcome nature and draw the local community into exploring what the library has to offer.
With a memorial donation from a local Frankfort resident, the library was tasked with creating a music-themed project. The team at the library agreed on creating a children’s music garden. Stacy and her team worked hard to transform the area outside the library into a space that not only welcomes bees, butterflies, and birds but also encourages people in the community to come to the library and discover what it has to offer.
Stacy noticed Percussion Play’s instruments at a park in a nearby town and decided to install similar outdoor musical instruments at her library. She chose a variety of instruments Inspired By Nature to complement the flowers and plants in the library's garden.
The Harmony Bells were chosen because of their sound. Stacy says, “We were impressed how the bells chime; they carry beautiful sounds. It seemed like a natural choice for the garden, and they look really cool. We liked the variety of the color, the shape, and the size—they’re great!”
The Sunflower Petal Drum is particularly popular, nestled next to the Liberty Bells in the corner of the garden.
Music was chosen as it complements the library's literacy offerings. Stacy says, “Music plays a part in literacy in many ways. Just as taste, textures, and colors aid a child’s sensory development, so does music. Even before babies are able to talk, their babbling and sound play help them develop the neural pathways necessary for listening and speaking. Children mimic music and sound they hear as an additional way to understand and make sense of the world around them.”
Named the Harmony Garden, it attracts people of all ages and promotes intergenerational play. Grandparents bring their grandchildren to play music together, and, as Stacy says, the instruments have had an “amazing impact” on the community, adding, “They’re not just for children! It has been a joy to watch people of all ages explore the garden and the instruments.”
Stacy says, “We’ve seen our street presence increase, and people are now discovering their local library. The library is a nondescript brick building, a boring office, but since we’ve put in the Harmony Garden, people actually see there is a library here now. We’re not hidden anymore, and it's beckoning people to come play at the library. We’ve had more people coming in and exploring everything that we have to offer.”
Further Reading on Music in Pollinator Gardens: Melodies in Bloom: The Enchanting Fusion of Music and Pollinator Gardens for Community and Nature