The Nelsonville Public Library is hosting a very merry unbirthday party Wednesday.
In the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, the Mad-Hatter, March Hare and the Dormouse all attend the Mad Tea Party, where they celebrate their unbirthdays. An unbirthday is a celebration on any of the 364 days in a year that are not the person’s birthday. As long as it’s not someone’s actual birthday, there’s cause for an unbirthday party.
On Wednesday, families and people of all ages are encouraged to attend the party to take part in games, fun decorating events and an Alice in Wonderland-themed night. The library is also encouraging people to wear costumes to fully get into the spirit of the unbirthday party.
Abie Salyer, the teen librarian for the Nelsonville Public Library, is excited for people to take part in the event.
“We decided to put on this event as a party celebrating everyone, and that’s what an unbirthday is: a party for everybody,” Salyer said.
There will be a wide range of games including a Cheshire Cat game where kids try to get each other to laugh, and whoever laughs last is deemed the Cheshire Cat. There will also be a pin-the-tail on the White Rabbit game, where kids will be blindfolded and have to pin-the-tail on the cutout White Rabbit, and a Caucus Race with hula hoops.
In addition to the games, there will be decorating activities. Kids will have the opportunity to decorate miniature top hats to create their own perfect hat that would impress the Mad Hatter. There will also be cupcakes for kids to decorate their own unbirthday cakes, and the library will have tables filled with cookies and tea to mimic the unbirthday party table in the book.
Becca Lachman, communications officer for the Athens County Public Libraries, is proud to watch the Nelsonville branch organize the event for children and families.
“Library employees get to know the community and then offer programs based on the needs of the community, the age groups of people in the community and just for fun,” Lachman said. “This event is definitely under the just-for-fun category.”
All of the programs the libraries offer are free to the public, and Lachman feels blessed to be able to give that opportunity to the people in each library area.
Students are also looking forward to making the trip to Nelsonville for the fun event and think it’s a great way to support the Nelsonville Public Library.
Ava Burson, a freshman studying biology pre-med, thinks it’s important for people to support their local libraries.
“I think it’s really awesome that the Nelsonville library is doing this event,” Burson said. “It’s so important for people to support their local libraries, and it’s really special when libraries put on events like this to encourage people to show up and give support.”
Though Lachman has a lot of reasons to be proud of the event, her hope is that while having fun, children will also be able to appreciate the educational aspect of the event by focusing on the literature the party is based on.
“It’s important to be able to combine fun with education and important literature,” Lachman said. “If people have fun at the party, maybe they’ll pick up the book the event was based on. That’s just a bonus to become educated while having a great time.”
