When the Prince Albert Public Library organizers first floated the idea of hosting Take your Child to the Library Day this year the thought was that it will be a small event considering that this is the maiden edition.
Little did they know that the Prince Albert community would spring a beautiful surprise on them.
“Its fantastic! It exceeded our expectation and I am so glad that people came,” Vieng Enchanh, Communications and Marketing Coordinator, Prince Albert Public Library. “Everyone that came enjoyed themselves and it was really the community event that we had in mind. That families get together and visited the library, made inquiries about our programs and enjoyed themselves.”
The day was also an opportunity for families to bond as the kids enjoyed their day with their parents.
Parents Jeff and Agnes were among those who brought their children to the event. Agnes said their daughter, Wren, was excited about it, so they decided to drop by.
“She wanted to come when we talked about it. She is excited being here,” Agnes explained. “We come to the library whenever we can. The experience is great.”
At five years old, Little Wren was excited about being there.
“Yeah, I enjoyed the day and i had a puppy painted on my face,” she said.
Enchanh said they tried to keep track of the visitors by lost count at some point after 70 people came in. That puts organizers in a strong position for the 2027 version.
“We are looking forward to next years edition,” Enchanh said. “To the people of Prince Albert, thank you for coming to support your public library. We are always happy to see people come and share the space with us.”
The Library always opens every Saturday with activities like games and movies are shown in the Auditorium alongside with other engaging activities.
The large crowd kept library employees like Elle Roy busy.
“Today I am doing face painting (and) almost every kid who came in wanted their face painted,” said Roy, who works as a Program Services Clerk at the Prince Albert Public Library.
The Library has a cat called Willow and the kids were fascinated by the fact there is a cat in the library. The cat was rescued from a farm and raised in the Library staff because it is deaf.
Also available for the kids was a mini golf game and a craft bag to be won by the kids who played the golf. There were games like Lego, connect four, etc.
“Everyone can have a craft bag whether they complete the golf course or not,,” said Eva Pailey another library staff who is in charge of the Mini golf game. “It’s really good, we were hoping we have a good turnout. We are hoping it is successful so that we can have it every year.”
