On Feb. 6, Auburn Public Library hosted a Royal Revelry Night from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. The ball, which encouraged all attendees to dress up as members of a royal court, treated the Auburn community to an evening of games, crafts and snacks.
The event was completely free, opening the library doors to anyone who wanted to attend.
“Many families love to have activities like this, to come to events that don't cost anything for them,” said Mandy Campos, a library assistant.
The building was decorated with cardboard castles, garlands and thematic inflatable dolls. Dragons and flowers adorned the space, while a large mural decorated the kids’ area of the library.
Children in attendance enjoyed the opportunity to dress up and enter a fantasy world for the night. The idea to host this themed party came from the library workers' attention to what books are popular with the younger crowd.
“We just noticed a lot of interest in princesses and royalty kinds of things. Nine years ago, we had something called the fairy tale doll, and we wanted to kind of do a new version of that. So that's how we came up with Royal Revelry Night,” said Ashley Brown, member of the library's engagement and outreach team.
The library's team prepared for this event for two weeks. The staff, who was responsible for painting and setting up the decorations, dressed up in princesses and knights’ costumes for the ball.
At the beginning of the night, each family had the opportunity to take a picture in a homemade photo booth. After snapping a picture, the photographer would then give them a magic wand to cast spells around the bookshelves.
One table was filled with different snacks, while others were set up for crown decorating or for coloring shields.
In the middle of the room, a DJ played music for attendees to sing and dance to. Others preferred to have fun inside the castles, painting them or pretending to be the characters of a story.
The ball provided many children with the chance to make new friends.
“These children, a lot of them, don't know each other, but looking at them on the dance floor, you wouldn't know that they have not met some of these children anymore — everybody's friends when they come to the library,” Campos said.
The night ended with a festive scene: costumed attendees of all ages and backgrounds dancing around the cardboard castles and books.
“All the events at the library are unique because they are inclusive to our entire community. All ages can come and have fun and be celebrated and feel like a part of this great town," said Connor Lowry, a parent attending the event.
While this year's Royal Revelry Night was the first of its kind, its success indicates a new chapter of events from the Auburn Public Library.
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