Library kicks off May programming
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Strathmore Municipal Library hosted a pair of events, May 3 and 4, kicking off their scheduled programming for the month.
Taking place May 3, the facility hosted an early Mother’s Day craft program geared towards school-aged children to create picture frames.
“We try to do something different, of course, every year, but definitely if there is a Flex Friday before Mother’s Day, we try to hold a program that reflects Mother’s Day,” said Laura Henderson, public services manager for the Strathmore Municipal Library.
Regarding the conversations which led to hosting the event this year, Henderson explained part of it ultimately came down to library staff seeing what the team had available in their stores of supplies and coming up with a craft utilizing what is already on hand.
Generally preparing to see up to 60 people in attendance for this type of event, the library more generally anticipates between 30 and 40 to show up and participate.
“For this one in particular, the kids were making their crafts out of popsicle sticks, and we just happened to have a lot, so we do say ‘while supplies last,’ but I do not think we have ever run out of supplies,” said Henderson. “These are usually family programs, but we have seen a lot of kids just coming with their older siblings who just bring the younger ones so they can kind of create something for mom, or (similarly) when we do our Father’s Day one for dad and surprise their parents.”
The following day, May 4, the library hosted a Local Author Showcase of local authors from around the Strathmore community.
A similar event was hosted by the library last year in June with approximately 12 authors in attendance. Once again, approximately 12 authors were registered to participate in this year’s showcase.
“There is no expectation on what they write or even how they host their table. We provide them a table somewhere in the library and they can set up, they can sell their books, they can just talk to attendees about their books and their writing; it is an opportunity for our local authors to connect with the community,” said Henderson. “It is pretty interesting to see, and they are not even the same authors we featured last year – some of them are for sure, but I think there are five new ones who were not attending last year, and they are not even all of whom I was in contact with.”
Authors attending the event feature works across a large range of genres, though Henderson added many of them do focus largely on children’s books.
The authors’ showcase is an event the library plans to continue to maintain on an annual basis.