IGNACIO – Ignacio Community Library patrons went to Scotland on Tuesday. But, instead of taking a flight halfway around the world to the foggy Highlands or the ancient castle city of Edinburgh, attendees were transported to England’s northern neighbor through virtual reality.
The event was the latest installment of the library’s monthly VR travel series – where attendees enjoy a brief presentation about a selected country, eat traditional food and put on virtual reality headsets to be immersed in the sights of wherever they “travel” to.
“Each month we feature a different location,” said librarian Liz von Tauffkirchen, who dreamed up the VR travel program. “India has been our most popular one. We repeated it now three times.”
Von Tauffkirchen said the library searches for a volunteer from the community, who then comes, prepares the food and talks about their country and culture.
“Then the second half of the program we use the VR headsets to travel to that location,” she said.
For Tuesday’s virtual voyage to Scotland, the library brought in Laura Ryan, who grew up in Scotland before moving to Aztec on a teaching exchange.
“I got two years out of my teaching exchange here, and then I went back to Scotland,” she said. “I came back because I missed the sun.”
To deepen the immersive experience for attendees, she made a variety of Scottish dishes – including cock-a-leekie soup, a delicate soup made with chicken and leeks; mashed potatoes and turnips; buttery Scottish shortbread; and vegetarian haggis. She opted to forgo the traditional sheep intestines and instead used a vegetarian bean-and-grain version.
After eating Ryan’s Scottish fare, the attendees of the event moved to a circle of chairs set up by staff members, where they were shown how to use their virtual reality headsets.
The program used during the event, called Wander, uses Google Street View. Its features, according to Meta’s website, include speech recognition, Wikipedia integration for location-based learning and the ability to view historical imagery to track changes over time.
Von Tauffkirchen said she saw VR as a unique opportunity for learning at the library. The goal with the travel series is to share virtual reality technology with other residents.
“My end-game is to get adults to recognize that there’s something for them here,” she said. “The VR travel thing came about as a way to make it accessible for adults.”
She said that with the help of Friends of the Ignacio Community Library and nonprofit TechSoup, the library was able to get their set of headsets – which usually cost around $1,200 – for $240 each.
But VR is not the only exciting thing happening at the library, von Tauffkirchen said.
The library also hosts a monthly repair cafe, where volunteers help patrons fix broken items instead of discarding them; makerspace programs, which gives patrons access to multiple 3D printers; free legal clinics where patrons can meet with an attorney for 20-minute sessions for free; an introduction to genealogy night; and notary services.
“People love that we provide notaries, too,” library assistant Jayden Tafoya said. “A lot of people come in here and print documents for their legal troubles and everything. They say, ‘We couldn’t do this anywhere else.’ And they love having us so close and not having to go out to Durango.”
Additionally, the library is preparing for its “Make Every Day Earth Day” event April 22, featuring science exhibits and a poster contest.
“We’re already starting to set up some sciency-exhibits for Earth Day,” von Tauffkirchen said. “That’s a big deal here every year.”
On top of that, she said, the library is part of a 100-library consortium that physically shares resources with one another, and a 30-library digital consortium.
She said the library, including the events and resources it offers, is an important part of a community as small as Ignacio ‒ population 845.
“It’s really important for a library to serve as a hub for the community and a place to bring people together – particularly intergenerational togetherness,” von Tauffkirchen said. “It’s really important to keep your community strong and have a location where people can gather (and) there’s no expectation to spend money.”
Ignacio resident Kate Grayson said she loves the library. Grayson, who used to serve on the board, said her mother helped raise the money to have the library constructed.
She said the library’s programs are “top-of-the-line” and that she loves the friendly, knowledgeable staff. The building itself, she said, is another one of her favorite parts because of its beautiful design and large collection of books.
“I am expounding on the wonders of this library,” she said. “I just love coming here. It’s just such a great space.”
Von Tauffkirchen said anyone from the region can get an Ignacio library card, regardless of whether they live there.
“Our Bayfield, Durango and Aztec folks are all invited to come and go to these cool events here,” von Tauffkirchen said. “You don’t need a library card to come to our events. We’d love to give you one for free. You’re not required to do that to come participate.”
More information about events at the library can be found at ignaciolibrary.org
sedmondson@durangoherald.com
