The Park City Library finds itself in a sort of torpor after the excitement of the holidays and the Sundance Film Festival.
So when the Friends of the Park City Library announced it would like to host a winter used book sale, librarians Kate Mapp and Katrina Kmak decided to come up with Winterfest, two days of all-ages fun, designed to enhance the event.
Winterfest will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Feb. 10, and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Feb. 11. The event will include indoor and outdoor activities, such as crafts, sledding, snow painting and photos with a Snow Princess, said Youth Services Librarian Kmak.
“We started thinking about what we could do in terms of programming and framework that would be happening around the library during the book sale,” she said.
Mapp, the adult services librarian, was amazed that the library staff hadn’t thought of something like Winterfest before.
“It’s always fun to celebrate winter, especially post Sundance, and pre-Presidents’ Day, but we’ve never had a presence like this to celebrate the season,” she said. “So, we are now fully embracing winter in the community.”
Friday’s Winterfest schedule will include existing programs like Spanish story time and strategy games. It will also include a picture book reading of “Goodnight Chairlift,” as well as a Q and A with author Libby Ludlow and illustrator Nathan Jarvis, Kmak said.
“Goodnight Chairlift” is a bedtime story geared towards lovers of snow, skiing, and snowboarding, and Ludlow and Jarvis, who also published “A-B-Skis,” will be on hand to sign the book, she said.
Saturday’s main events will include BalletNext’s performance of “Nutcracker” excerpts at 11 a.m.,and a free screening of Jill Culton’s 2019 animated adventure, “Abominable,” rated PG.
“Michele Wiles is the artistic director for BalletNext, and she will also do a Q and A on the third floor,” Kamak said. “And the screening is made possible by a partnership between (the Park City Library) and Park City Film.”
“Abominable” is about a teenager named Yi and her two friends who take it upon themselves to reunite a yeti with his family.
Throughout both days, the library will bring out sleds, offer a hot chocolate bar at Lucky Ones Coffee and set up some snow painting sessions and offer craft tables, including one for making valentines, Kmak said.
“While we will have some organized aspects of Winterfest, we wanted to make things open so people can just drop in when it works for them,” she said.
Mapp said she would like to see Winterfest turn into an annual event.
“It makes sense to create community when we’re coming out of the holidays and the Sundance Film Festival — those bigger and outward-facing events,” he said. “Winterfest is specifically for our own community, and we want to celebrate it.”