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By Myrna Trauntvein America continues to gear up for the celebration of the 250 year mark of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. America250 is the official, nonpartisan, multi-year commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding, marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. Ruth Bonzo, Nephi City Librarian, gave a report to the city council on the plans being made. Recently, she said, she attended a conference in Phoenix, AZ. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is a federal agency that supports libraries, archives and museums in all 50 states and U.S. territories. They discussed planning for the America250 celebration. “There were other librarians at the conference, but I was the only one to present,” she said. On the national level, Utah was invited to celebrate the July 5, “America’s Potluck” for all 50 states and, Utah, other states and organizations are signed up to participate. “The event is open to everyone,” said Bonzo. She said that there are many national partners, a few are America’s Test Kitchens, Associated Food Stores, Interfaith America, US Chamber of Connection. “I encourage you to find out more about this event and how you can help your community learn about how they can participate.,” said Bonzo. “A goal is to bring people together to get to know each other better and enjoy a meal.” On the state level there will be an exhibit traveling to Utah’s 29 counties from September 2025 to December 2026. The theme is: “The Pen Is Mightier: Writing a Revolution” and it is sponsored by Larry and Gail Miller Family Foundation Partnership with the Utah Division of Arts and Museums Traveling Exhibition Program, the Utah Department of Cultural and Community Engagement, Zions Bank, and Intermountain Health. “The 20 Panels explore how Revolutionary-Era Leaders harnessed tools such as printing presses and secret codes to inspire action and ignite lasting change,” said Bonzo. The panels on display include “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine, stories of leaders of the elite and also the under-represented people such as indigenous people, enslaved people, women, happenings in Utah in 1776, Utah’s revolutionary contributions to world communications crucial to daily lives now, 250 years since the founding of the nation. The exhibit highlights the influencers and communication techniques used for the historical period including song, music, maps and written word but makes connections to Utah’s contributions and communication and technology used today. It will be coming to Juab County June 30 to August 18. “Our library is providing a scavenger hunt activity during this exhibit that, if anyone in our county completes, they will receive a prize for participating,” Bonzo said. On a county level, July 18 will be the Juab County Historical Jubilee--”Let Us Look Back” The Early Years of Juab County. “This event will be held in our fairground arena,” said Bonzo. “We are representing the history of the county: Early Explorers, Pioneers (Wagon Train), Farming and Agriculture (Tractors both old and new), Mining (Miners with equipment).” Bonzo said that, “At the conclusion of this event, we invited the UTE tribe as honored guests to our Jubilee. They were the original tribe that lived in Juab County. They left our county 90 years ago and have not been back since. They will be sharing their story of our county. Having them visit will be the highlight of this event.” “On the city level, I am on our city’s America250 Committee and am looking forward to sharing ideas for this convening. Our city is looking at a time capsule for the next 25 years. As a library we are looking at ideas that the library can help with. So it can be opened as we celebrate 275 years of our country,” she said. On the library level, she said, the library staff wanted to work on educating their patrons about America250 all year long so they started with handouts that provide different topics each month. “One of my staff created topics from September until July,” said Bonzo. “Some examples are: Constitution, Founding Fathers, Liberty Bell, Statue of Liberty, Voting, Washington D.C., White House, British Perspective, Flag, Bald Eagle, etc. We have many home school families and a charter school that have been excited about our handouts as well as our other patrons.” The library has bookmarks that they created that have the “Pledge of Allegiance” on one side and the “Star Spangled Banner” on the other side, she said. “For the charter school story time, we have been reading American Revolutionary or time period books and fun facts about our country,” she said. “We have also chosen these same types of books for our Tween and Teen book clubs.” Using a grant, the library was able to add American Revolution graphic novels to our collection and other patriotic books to the children’s collection and they have a story kit about America that is checked out often. “The books will help us in the future to promote our country,” said Bonzo. Summer Storytime is in the park for the month of June. “We average 150 to 200 participants each week,” said Bonzo. “We will be highlighting America 250 the second two weeks leading up to July. We sponsor Tween/Teen activities during the summer that will include America250. We will be incorporating America250 with reading charts and prizes for June and July.”
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