The Park City Library and the City of Park City Planning Department will join forces for this month’s Green Reads Book Club discussion, scheduled for Wednesday, September 4th at 7:00 p.m.
The free event will be held in the community room of the Park City Library, 1255 Park Ave., and will include a community discussion with Paul Bogard, author of “End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light,” as well as a look at the importance and benefits of protecting the night sky, says Kate Mapp, adult services librarian at the Park City Library.
“The event is an in-person event for attendees to meet in person to discuss the book, and Paul will tune in remotely and join our group live,” she said. “He lives in the Midwest and we thought this would be a great way to have him join our book club discussion.”
Although there will be no live streaming link during the event, the library will set up a link to a recording afterwards, Mapp said.
“People who were unable to attend can contact the library for the link,” she said.
Part of the discussion will revolve around the Dark Sky Code, which the Park City Council passed in 2021 and requires fully shielded and downward-facing outdoor lights with bulbs of 3,000 Kelvin or less by the end of the year, Mapp said.
“The planning department reached out to the library to see if we could collaborate on a program to educate the community about dark skies and the ordinance,” she said. “That got me thinking about what kind of book we could incorporate this into, and this one has been on my radar for some time.”
Bogard published “End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light” in 2014. The book examines areas from the brightest, such as the beam from the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas, to the darkest, and also delves into the science of darkness, Mapp said.
“He talks a lot about the history of how we view light and darkness and how this is a new concept for humans, even though there are many animals that rely on darkness,” she said. “It’s an older book, but it’s so relevant and relevant to what we’re looking at in our community.”
Mapp read the book in 2014 when it was first published.
“I’ve been wanting to bring Paul to Park City for a while, but the dates never worked out,” she said. “When the planning department approached us, I thought this could be a perfect fit.”
Since publishing “End of Night,” Bogard has released a children’s book illustrated by Susan Holden called “What If Night?” in 2022. He also co-wrote and edited “Solastalgia: An Anthology of Emotion in a Disappearing World,” which was published in 2023, Mapp said.
“It will be exciting to hear him talk about his book and everything new and relevant he has discovered since the release of ‘End of Night,'” she said. “Then we will tie things into how these things relate to our community and how we can apply similar concepts from the books to our lives. We will also have representatives from the planning department present to answer questions as well.”
The Green Reads program began when the Park City Library opened its Sustainability Resource Center on Earth Day (April 22, 2022), Mapp said.
The center has a changing exhibition of books and information on various sustainability topics, she said.
“The purpose of Green Reads, which we do quarterly, is for the library to find an organization that supports certain sustainability programs and then work with them to write a book that reflects their mission and relates to our community,” Mapp said.
Mapp knows that many people interested in Green Read topics may not have the time to read an entire book.
“The great thing is you don’t have to do that before you join the discussion,” she said. “If you do, that’s great, but we really want you to come and contribute to the discussion. That’s why we provide access to other formats like podcasts and articles. That way people can join the discussion and at least know a little bit about the issues.”
The podcast for this quarter’s Green Reads is “The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast: 1KHO 240: The Importance of Bright Days and Dark Nights | Paul Bogard, Podcast: The End of Night” and can be found on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1kho-240-the-importance-of-bright-days-and-dark/id1448210728?i=1000643561097.
To read the article, “Bringing Back the Night: A Fight Against Light Pollution,” visit e360.yale.edu/features/bringing_back_the_night__a_fight_against_light_pollution.
“We have books available to borrow and e-books available on Libby,” Mapp said.
Green Reads: “End of Night” with Paul Bogard
