For the next few weeks, Otis Library’s Millie and Martin Shapiro Community Room will be like a small-scale version of the Smithsonian’s renowned Hall of Origins.

The Smithsonian has brought its new traveling exhibit about human evolution research to the Norwich library — which is one of only 19 libraries around the country selected via application for that honor. The exhibit, titled “Exploring Human Origins: What Does It Mean to Be Human?,” is based on the 15,000-square-foot David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The 1,200-square-foot traveling version was developed by the Smithsonian and the American Library Association.

What that means here: visitors strolling through the Otis community room between now and Feb. 3 can see an array of displays.

Replicas of ancient human skulls show how they have morphed over time.

A floor mat displays a facsimile of the oldest known footsteps dating back 3.6 million years, and exhibit-goers are invited to compare those footprints to their own.

Kiosks allow people to use a touchscreen to choose, say, which early human species they would like to meet; a slider feature allows them to rotate the view of a given species’ skull.

And exhibit text, drawings and photos delve into all sorts of scientific discoveries related to evolution.

Briana Pobiner — a research scientist and museum educator with the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program who is part of a Smithsonian group that is traveling with the exhibit — explains that the Smithsonian’s permanent Hall of Human Origins opened in 2010, and, she says, “Our team decided that this permanent exhibit was really a good first step, but we realized so many people can’t come to D.C. to see it. There are so many communities outside the beltway, as we like to say in the capital area, where this information can be really exciting but just isn’t accessible. So we decided to put together this traveling exhibit.”

They are bringing it to libraries, since libraries are a place of community and of civic conversation and activity, she says.

Otis — which won the 2016 National Medal for Museum and Library Science, the country’s top award for library science — is the 17th stop of 19 for the exhibit and the only one in Connecticut.

A number of school groups are coming into the Otis Library to see “Exploring Human Origins,” and the exhibit is open to the public.

Otis Library Executive Director Robert D. Farwell says, “This is one of the things that we are constantly trying to do: bring new and unique exhibits and programs to the community, to be, in that regard, a community center. We can offer public forums that afford people the opportunity to exchange ideas, to educate themselves. Regardless of what the vehicle is you have to do that, it’s all part of being a library and promoting education and enlightenment.”

In addition to the exhibit itself, the library is hosting a series of related talks. Local experts lead some sessions, while Smithsonian authorities head up others. For instance, paleo artist John Gurche, who forensically reconstructs faces of early humans and whose work can be seen at the Smithsonian, will speak on Jan. 21. He will detail the discovery and reconstruction of Homo naledi, a new species of human found in a cave in South Africa.

Farwell says that one of the reasons the library wanted to bring in this exhibit is its emphasis on community engagement.

“We saw this as a real opportunity not only because, in many ways, it’s a singular exhibit but also because it was a way of engaging different communities the library serves in dialogue and stimulating, constructive discussion,” he says.

One discussion the exhibit naturally prompts is between people who believe in evolution and people who believe in creationism. Pobiner says the aim is to have a respectful dialogue between them, even if, in the end, folks agree to disagree.

“In a lot of communities, we’ve have great conversations where people have said, ‘I never thought I would have calm and rational conversations about this with someone, quote, on the other side of the divide,’” she says. “Part of what we want to do is show there are ways to bridge that divide and that the relationship between science and religion is not inherently one of conflict, which is really the only model that most people have seen or heard or experienced.”

Delving into DNA, extinction and evolution

The “Exploring Human Origins” exhibit highlights a wide range of scientific information.

It states that the first modern humans were one of at least four species of early humans, but those other species eventually became extinct.

It explains how scientists know that humans are primates, pointing to the fact that there is only about a 1.2 percent genetic difference between modern humans and chimpanzees throughout much of their genetic code. Humans are, in fact, genetically similar to most life on Earth — and are, for example, 60 percent genetically similar to banana trees.

It breaks down various changes over the course of human evolution. Tall bodies and short guts, for example, became prevalent 1.9 million years ago. “As some early humans adapted to hot climates, they evolved narrow bodies that helped them stay cool,” the exhibit text states. “Long legs enabled them to travel longer distances. Eating meat and other foods that could be digested quickly led to a smaller digestive tract ... making more energy available for tall bodies and large brains.”

One section focuses on the benefits and costs of evolution. It notes that the modern human’s bigger brain “can store many decades’ worth of information; collect and process information, then deliver output, in split seconds; and solve problems and create abstract ideas and images.” At the same time, though, a big brain requires a lot of energy. A modern human’s brain is 2 percent of a person’s weight but uses 20 percent of a person’s oxygen supply and blood flow.

Julie Menders, the community engagement and programming coordinator at Otis, says that the exhibit is appropriate for all ages from elementary school and up. It also has been attracting folks from far beyond Norwich. Menders says that, during one of the programs featuring Smithsonian scientists, she spoke with residents of Milford, Madison and Colchester who made the trip to Norwich for the session. So while there were a lot of familiar faces, she says, there were new people, too, who “were excited to be in the presence of people who helped create the Hall of Human Origins.”

Menders notes that the Otis exhibit application mentioned that Norwich is a very diverse community, with more than 50 languages spoken in its schools.

The exhibit, she says, “is something that ties all of us together — what does it mean to be human? It doesn’t matter where you’re from. It doesn’t matter your socio-economic background. None of that matters. We’re all human beings. We’re all here on the planet together. So we just love the idea of having conversations with people from all over who are here now and are experiencing life here in Norwich.”

IF YOU GO

What: “Exploring Human Origins: What Does It Mean To Be Human?”

Where: Otis Library, 261 Main St., Norwich

When: Through Feb. 3. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues., Thurs. and Fri. (until 8 p.m. Jan. 31 and Feb. 2), 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat., and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon. and Wed.; library is closed Jan. 16 for Martin Luther King, Jr., Day

Admission: Free

More info: Call (860) 889-2365

Upcoming programs: Jan. 21: Paleo artist John Gurche, 1 p.m.

Jan. 25: “A Conversation on Modern Sexuality,” 6 p.m. A panel discussion hosted by Otis Library and OutCT.

Jan. 28: Family Day, including Viva Brazil-Ginga Brasileira! and painting with Faith Satterfield

Jan. 30: “Perfecting Humanity: The Norwich State Hospital and the Science of Racial Purity,” 6 p.m. Robert Farwell, executive director of Otis Library, presents this session on eugenics, a movement popular from 1910 to 1940.