For five years, the Melrose Branch Library in Roanoke, Virginia, has welcomed large groups of lively fifth graders for our annual Flip the Fair event. Roanoke Public Libraries’ “reversed science fair” has become a standout example of community‑driven learning in the Roanoke Valley. Instead of students presenting projects to parents and teachers, the students become the judges, reviewing and scoring research posters and presentations created by Virginia Tech graduate students.
On October 1, 395 fifth graders from six Title I elementary schools filled the library to evaluate the work of 23 Virginia Tech graduate researchers. Each researcher came prepared to break down complex scientific ideas into conversations that made sense to kids. For four busy hours, the Melrose Branch Library was alive with questions, debates, and discoveries as students moved from poster to poster. Led by community and library volunteers, small groups of students worked together to examine each project, scoring the researchers on clarity, creativity, and overall presentation. As you walked through the noisy library, you could hear laughter, exclamations, and gasps, pulling the heartstrings of every adult in the building.
At the end of the day, awards went to the graduate students who impressed this sharp and often very honest group of young judges. While the awards are always exciting, the real heart of Flip the Fair is the connection it creates. Students had the chance to talk with real working scientists and ask their own questions about the life of a scientist. Past presentations have ranged from bees and snakes to viruses and medicine, along with always‑popular topics such as vomit and poop. Each year, students leave Flip the Fair amazed by just how many different things scientists can study. Part of the power of Flip the Fair comes from the diversity of the researchers and their backgrounds, which makes it easier for children to picture themselves as scientists, especially after meeting scientists who not only look like them but are also genuinely cool! Several students have even shared that they could now imagine becoming scientists as well.
For the Virginia Tech graduate students, the event is a unique chance to practice explaining their work clearly and creatively. Communicating science to kids requires a different set of skills than writing a research paper or conducting experimentation. Flip the Fair is an experience many of them say is just as valuable as their academic training. These graduate students willingly make the trip up Interstate 81 from Blacksburg to Roanoke to share their research with a library full of judgey fifth graders, who may just be their toughest audience yet.
For the library, Flip the Fair reflects Roanoke Public Libraries’ mission to engage, educate, and empower. Bringing together Virginia Tech researchers and Roanoke City Public Schools’ students helps expand access to scientific learning, especially for children from historically underserved communities like those surrounding the Melrose Branch Library. Programs such as this allow young people to see themselves in academic spaces and imagine futures they may never have known were possible. Many of the fifth graders that visited our library for Flip the Fair have not visited a public library before. Some have never looked through a microscope. Others have not had the chance to talk with a real scientist. These new discoveries and the confidence they spark are exactly the moments libraries are meant to foster. Of course, we also make sure that each child leaves with a book about science that they get to keep.
Now in its fifth year, Flip the Fair has grown into more than an annual library event. It has become a model for how libraries can reimagine traditional learning and champion the power of community‑driven education. Through this program, we have strengthened community partnerships and built trust with Melrose community members. Flip the Fair shows just how far a simple idea can go in public libraries. We quickly learned that when you trust children with leadership, they rise to the moment, ask big questions, and discover new possibilities for themselves. Small moments of wonder can shape big futures.
–Amber Lowery, Director, Roanoke Public Libraries
