Get ready to glow! The James Curry Library will light up southern Upshur County this September with a glow stick party full of fun activities for kids and families.
Joan McDaniels, a James Curry Library employee, said the popular fundraiser will take place on Sept. 13 from 7 to 9 p.m.
“We’re organizing the event to raise money for the library because we don’t get as much funding as other libraries,” McDaniels said. “We’ll be selling glow sticks, we’ll also be offering food, we’re working on a way to play music, and we’ll be offering games around glow sticks, so we hope the kids will be interested in that as well. We’ll be holding the event in the big pavilion, which is also where the big playground is, so the kids can play on the playground.”
The library has purchased a wide variety of glow sticks for the children, including traditional sticks, bracelets, necklaces, glow masks and foam sabers.
“We have a great selection and hopefully I can get a little more before the party,” McDaniels said. “The prices are really reasonable.”
All proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit the James Curry Library and help cover program costs.
“The money goes towards anything we need for the kids, like craft supplies, or if we need to replace a book that’s been destroyed, gifts for the kids, anything like that,” McDaniels said. “It’s a wide variety of things for the children’s program.”
The library tried to host a glow stick party earlier in the summer, but is hoping for a larger turnout in the fall.
“We tried it in June, but I don’t think we did enough advertising,” McDaniels said. “We handed out flyers to schools and put them in every gas station from here to Hodgesville to get people here, but the turnout wasn’t really good.”
McDaniels said former librarian Judith Williams usually had a big turnout at the glow stick parties, so they wanted to try it again.
“When Judith has participated, the turnout has usually been good, and we’re also trying to get a grant so we can maybe get a bounce house next year or the year after,” McDaniels said. “It will bring more people to the glow stick party and help raise money for the library.”
McDaniels also encouraged the community to check out the 114 new books they recently received thanks to a grant from the Pilcrow Foundation and a donation from the Radcliff family.
“We received the Pilcrow Foundation grant and held an event on the 16th called ‘The Books of Love,'” McDaniels said. “We raised $400 in Daniel Radcliff’s name from the family and that gave us the money to reach our goal and qualified us for the Pilcrow Foundation grant. Thanks to the Radcliff family, we received a total of 114 books from the Pilcrow Foundation.”
The library is also planning a hayride with the Selbyville Fire Department on October 25. More information to follow.
