Get ready to glow! The James Curry Library will brighten up southern Upshur County this September with a glow stick party packed with fun activities for kids and families.
James Curry Library attendant Joan McDaniels said the popular fundraiser will take place on Sept. 13 from 7 to 9 p.m.
“We organize the event to raise money for the library, because we are not funded like other libraries,” McDaniels said. “We’re going to be selling glow sticks; we are also going to do food, we are working on a way to have music, and we’re going to have games associated with glow sticks, so hopefully kids will be interested in doing that as well. We’re going to hold it at the large pavilion, which has the large playground as well, so the kids can play on the playground.”
The library has purchased a wide variety of glow sticks for kids to enjoy, including traditional sticks, bracelets, necklaces, glow masks and foam sabers.
“We have an assortment, and hopefully, by the time the party comes, I can get a little bit more,” McDaniels said. “They’re really reasonably priced.”
All the money from the fundraiser will go back into the James Curry Library to help cover the costs of their programming.
“The money will go toward anything we need for the children, like craft supplies, or if we need to replace a book that had been destroyed, gifts for the children, anything like that,” McDaniels said. “It’s a wide variety of stuff for the children’s programming.”
The library attempted to have a glow stick party earlier in the summer, but they hope to have a better turnout in the fall.
“We tried one in June, but I guess we didn’t advertise well enough,” McDaniels said. “We gave flyers to schools and we took them from here to Hodgesville into every gas station to try to get people here, but we didn’t have a really good turnout.”
McDaniels said former librarian Judith Williams usually had good-sized crowds for the glow stick parties, so they wanted to try again.
“When Judith did it, she usually had a good turnout, and plus, we’re in the process of trying to get a grant, so maybe next year or the year after, we’re going to be able to get a bounce house,” McDaniels said. “That 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 received recently, thanks to a grant from the Pilcrow Foundation and a donation from the Radcliff family.
“We received the Pilcrow Foundation grant, and on the 16th, we held an event we 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. We have received a total of 114 books from the Pilcrow Foundation, thanks to the Radcliff family.”
The library is also planning a hayride at the Selbyville Fire Department on Oct. 25, with more information to come.
