Library to host back-to-school party
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Strathmore Municipal Library is welcoming local students back to school with a party, scheduled to be hosted Sept. 20, at the facility.
Games, karaoke, crafts, and pizza will be available at the library from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the Friday. Public Services Manager Laura Henderson explained this type of event is new for the library to be hosting.
“Like always, we try to host something every Flex Friday when Golden Hills School Division has the day off, so we were just looking for something different to do this year and it kind of just fell into place that way,” she said. “(Flex Fridays) are scheduled by Golden Hills, and they fall sometimes once a month or twice a month depending on what the scheduling looks like. They are professional development days, or Golden Hills uses those as their own days off – we just try to have an activity going on because the kids are not in school.”
Following the party for the students, the library will be once again partnering with the Dominos location in Strathmore to host another fundraiser.
The party will also serve, to a degree, to help advertise the fundraiser, as the food being supplied for the students will be from Dominos as well.
There will be no prior registration required, as the party will be hosted as a drop-in event for students who are interested in attending. Pizza availability will effectively be first come, first served.
“We just wanted something that was fun for the kids to kind of launch the programs this year. We have talked about how our regular programs have started back up, but this is our first Flex Friday of the year and we just kind of wanted to do something fun and different and engaging,” said Henderson. “We just tried to put together some exciting pieces of events, combine them all together so that we could have one big party.”
The party is scheduled around the library’s early literacy program, which is taking place prior to the event in the morning, and the facility closes to the public at 4 p.m. that day. The time frame allows staff and volunteers to both prep for, as well as clean up after the event without disrupting regular schedules.
There is no specific target demographic for the party, outside of being school-age children who have the day off from classes, as it will serve as something for them to do out of the house.
More information regarding the party is available through the Strathmore Municipal Library.