Manti Library has ambitious education plans for summer, including a program on water use
By Suzanne Dean
Publisher
7-4-2019
MANTI—The Manti City Library is sponsoring a program on how to store and treat water for use in emergencies.
The seminar will be at the Eva Beal Auditorium in the Manti City Building Tuesday, July 9 at 6:30 p.m.
The speakers will be a couple, Monica and Jason Hoyt, who both work for the Central (CUWCD) in Orem. The CUWCD territory includes Sanpete County.
At 1 p.m. the same day, the Hoyts will direct a “Makerspace” activity for elementary and middle school-age children in the children’s area of the library.
The Hoyts will teach the children how to use a wooden block, clothes pins and Popsicle sticks to make the shaft of a microscope. The lens of the microscope will be a drop of water.
The youngsters will be able to put things under the water and observe how the water magnifies the items.
The adult program in the evening and the children’s activity during the day are representative of changes Cindy Tibbs Lopez, the Manti City Library director, is trying to make at the library.
“Libraries are changing,” she says. They’re becoming much more than places to check out and return books and tapes.
“We’re turning things around so the library can be a center for learning and activity,” she says. “We’re starting to do adult programming here.”
The Hoyts have presented their 90-minute program on water and emergencies along the Wasatch Front. “It is a very popular program,” says Monica Hoyt, who is manager of education and outreach for CUWCD.
The Makerspace concept was implemented last year as an after-school activity for kids at the library. The term, Makerspace, first caught on with librarians in the East. The idea was to offer an activity for children one or more afternoons after school.
The activities are hands-on, often involve making something, support the school curriculum and encourage critical and creative thinking, Lopez says.
Monica Hoyt came from Idaho Falls to Salt Lake City to attend Westminster College. She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and went to work as a chemist for the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake City.
In 2000, she became laboratory director for CUWCD, and in 2018, she changed careers to take charge of the water agency’s education and outreach programs.
“Water has become my life,” she says.
Jason Hoyt grew up on a farm in Vermont and came to Utah to attend BYU. After completing his education, he became an electrical drafter and designer, and then started specializing in water industrial automation. He has helped to design, install and operate water systems throughout Utah.
In 2009, he joined CUWCD as an instrument and controls technician. He is now Electrical Group Manager and over
sees automation of CUWCD facilities in eight counties.
In 2003, Monica and Jason met when Jason was brought in to automate a water system Monica was involved with. They were married and now live in Draper.
