Explore More at Pritchard Park

Explore More provides environmental education, citizen science, and nature play opportunities for all ages. From STEM activities and explorer backpacks to native plant gardens, science lectures, and habitat restoration, ExMo connects you to nature.

Nature Play

Sited in the woods near the library’s main entrance, the nature-play space is unstructured and all natural. It will evolve over time as kids dig and build, and materials decay or are added. Today, the nature-play space includes stumps and logs from a large, old willow oak that was recently replaced on Franklin Street, and boulders from sites around town.

Citizen Science

Citizen Science is the collaboration between the scientific community and the general public, who collect and share data about the natural world. The Explore More initiative will bring together volunteers on experiments and observations that will help the scientific community.

Learning Programs

Bird watching, animal observation, nature interpretation, and more.

See the schedule

Things to Borrow

Kid-size backpacks with binoculars, magnifiers, and more, plus themed book kits.

Check them out

Tree-ID Guide

Learn to identify common trees by their bark and leaves with this illustrated guide.

Download yours

Learning Programs

Bird watching, animal observation, nature interpretation, and more.

See what's coming

Things to Borrow

Starting in 2018, there will be kid-size backpacks with binoculars, magnifiers, and a scavenger map of the park.

Named partners on this project are the UNC Institute for the Environment and the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. This project is made possible by funding from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (IMLS grant number LS-00-17-0034-17).