By Kelly White
It’s beginning to look at lot like Christmas at the Orland Park Library.
The library, 14921 S Ravinia Ave., brought back its Winter Wonderfest. The winter celebration was a captivating event tailored for families and patrons of all age and marked the commencement of the Winter Reading Challenge and promised a delightful experience for the local community.
“When it really comes down to why the library does programs like Winter Wonderfest, the reason is that the library holds events to stimulate imaginations, educate, entertain, and welcome everyone,” Jackie Boyd, Communications Manager at the Orland Park Public Library, said.
The day began on Saturday, December 9, with a storytime to promote literacy, language, and social/emotional skill development. Following that there were many exciting interactive activities for patrons to enjoy, including: wood working, wool spinning, and lace-making demos, to educate patrons about useful hobbies.
“One goal of Winter Wonderfest is to teach people about useful hobbies they might unexpectedly like, and if they are really inspired, they can check out a book about the hobby,” Boyd said. “Another goal is to help residents stay active readers over the holidays. School break comes and the holidays come, and people just want to take a breath and relax. It is the perfect opportunity to catch up on reading.”
All of the attendees at Winter Wonderfest were transported into a winter wonderland brimming with engaging activities. From mesmerizing wintery craft demonstrations to hands-on crafting opportunities, patrons could immerse themselves in the spirit of the season and warm up with a steaming beverage at the CurliQ Cantina booth and savor delicious cookies, adding to the joyous atmosphere of the event.
Patrons were also invited to unwind in the library lobby accompanied by live music, and capture their joy at the event by jumping into the photo booth and enjoy a performance by the Smarty Pants Big Balloon Holiday show.
The festivities extended to The Backyard, where patrons could meet the friendly goats from Nature’s Trail Yoga, creating memorable moments and perhaps even finding a new furry best friend.
“Winter Wonderfest is an opportunity for residents from Orland Park and the surrounding areas to do something for themselves,” Boyd said. “You can go out and fight the crowds any day in December, but this is almost self-care. The library is a relaxed environment where residents of all ages can enjoy hobby demonstrations, do a craft, pick up a warm drink, enjoy live piano playing in the lobby, take a picture in the photo booth, and pet a goat.”
The event also encouraged residents to join the library’s winter reading challenge to help residents keep up with their reading goals, Orland Park Public Library staff said.
“Reading is a fundamental skill that impacts people’s lives at every point in the life cycle,” Boyd said. “You learn things. You develop your language, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Reading helps kids develop cognitively, and it helps seniors stay sharp. Reading is a way that a lot of people relax.”
The winter reading kick-off offered something for everyone, however, the reading challenge theme is different depending on age.
For adults, every book read gives them a ticket to enter to win a gift basket. The gift baskets include a “Cozy Night” gift basket that has a blanket, popcorn, and a flaming humidifier. A “Read a Latte” basket that features coffee, a milk frother, iced coffee drink holder, flavored syrups, ice nugget maker, and insulted travel mug. A “Sno-more Problems” basket includes hand warmers, a portable charger, ice scraping mitt, deicer solution, snow windshield cover, and snowball maker.
Teens have their own winter reading challenge called “Read A Latte”. The whole thing is coffee themed, and teens can stop by the Teen Loft upstairs at the library to learn more.
Kids in fifth-grade and under have a brand-new reading challenge this year including trading cards. While adults read a number of books in order to get tickets, kids read a number of hours to get trading cards. Specifically, for every two hours read, kids will earn a single trading card, and when you complete the set of trading cards you can win additional prizes.
The dates of all three reading challenges run to Thursday, Dec. 29. Residents are encouraged to get a library card, but a library card is not required to sign up. Sign up at Winter Wonderfest by going to the Adult Services Desk upstairs, or go online and sign up.
“The library had done kick-off events for kids and families for many years, and we saw a community need to plan an event that was equally interesting to adults,” Boyd said. “Our first attempt at doing an adult-geared summer kick-off event was very successful, so we decided to try to do a winter kick-off event that would be enjoyable for adults without kids, as well.”
Last year’s Winter Wonderfest was wildly successful with 847 attendees and this year exceeded with more than 1,000.
“It was really even better received than we knew it would be,” Boyd said. “It started snowballing leading up to the event. The library wasn’t just putting out information about the event. Our community partners were also talking about the event.”
During the festivities, the Friends of the Orland Park Public Library, a 501(c)3 nonprofit operating in Orland Park, Illinois, donated $7,000 to the Orland Park Public Library.
The Friends of the Orland Park Public Library is dedicated to encouraging public interest and financial support for the library. They support various programs and cultural activities held at the library for the enjoyment of the entire community, just like the Winter Wonderfest.
