On Saturday and Sunday, March 18-19, Reference/Instruction Librarian Krista Ivy represented the UCR Library at LA Nature Fest.

Presented by the LA Natural History Museum, LA Nature Fest welcomed more than 30 exhibitors and 7,600 visitors to their Nature Gardens for the festival. Activities included live animal presentations, nature walks, stage performances, nature crafts, bird walks, and expert tips on how to attract wildlife to your garden.

“It was an amazing opportunity,” Krista explained. “We were invited to share information about Riverside's pivotal role in the development of the California citrus industry.” For her presentation, Krista collaborated with rangers from the California Citrus State Historic Park.

Krista's booth included a colorful timeline depicting the significant points in California’s citrus history and when the first citrus trees were brought to California. Krista said "I can’t tell you how many times I heard, ‘Oh I didn’t know citrus wasn’t native to California!’”

For the children’s craft activity, Krista brought coloring pages of citrus-related images from UCR Library’s Special Collections, inspired by the #ColorOurCollections movement.

The citrus crate labels that Krista used to decorate the library’s booth were a crowd favorite. The labels highlighted Riverside citrus brands and were reproductions from a large collection of citrus and fig labels (MS 038) housed in the UCR Library's Special Collections. "People would point to familiar images and relate to the artworks often depicting an idealized time in California history," observed Krista. 

The library’s booth was located in a prime spot, which proved to be an excellent promotional opportunity both for the UCR Library and for the UC Riverside campus. “I spoke with several alumni, and some prospective students who were anxiously waiting for their acceptance notification from UCR,” Krista said.