The Northlake Public Library hosted a back-to-school fair on Saturday.
“I come here weekly and saw the signs up for the event and was interested in bringing my daughters here,” said Stefana Durcau, 38. She brought her two daughters, ages 12 and 4, to the fair at the library, 231 N. Wolf Road. “I think the food was a good incentive for them to come because they love cotton candy.”
Marianne Ryczek, the library’s head of youth services, and Laura Bartnick, the library’s head of adult services, helped organize the event, which featured free food, games, crafts and Brookfield Zoo passes.
“We own all of the food machines, and so it’s really just a matter of bringing them down and having enough volunteers and staff to run it,” Bartnick said.
The other largest challenge is promoting the event, said Sharon L. Highler, the library’s director. She said her staff promoted the event by going to Wal-Mart and area schools to pass out fliers. About an hour into the event, there were already more than 100 people at the fair.
“We tend to come to the library a lot after school for stuff,” said Allison Lackenbach, 30. She was at the fair with her two children, ages 6 and 5. “And with this event, they had a big board posted out and did a really good job of advertising it. And we have a lot of friends in the community, so word of mouth kind of gets around, too — especially through the schools.”
Alex V. Hernandez is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.