It’s the holiday season: C-H Community Library to host 4th Holidays Around the World
It’s the holiday season, and Chartiers-Houston Community Library will be extra festive Tuesday, when families are welcome to attend the annual Holidays Around the World celebration.
The event, which shines a spotlight on holidays celebrated this time of year, runs from 4 to 7 p.m.
“It’s so much fun,” said library manager Susan Strnisha. “I almost wish that someone would have had something like this when I was younger. As a kid, I felt bad for kids that didn’t celebrate Christmas, because I did. Did another child feel bad because they celebrated another holiday and I didn’t? Those holidays might be celebrated for completely different reasons, some religious, some might be legends or folklore, some might be just to bring families together. They all have so much in common.”
This year, along with Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa, Chartiers-Houston library will honor Hogmanay, a Scottish celebration of candles, lights and bonfires; Lohri, a holiday that marks the passing of the winter solstice with lights and bonfires, and Yuan Xiao Jie, the Chinese festival of lights.
“It’s about that light, that commonality. Last year we focused on … the family connection. In 2023, we’re focusing on how so many holidays have the light, the fires, the candles. Those are all very common in those celebrations,” Strnisha said.
During Holidays Around the World, kids of all ages will visit the five stations throughout the library to learn about each celebration and complete a craft or activity pertaining to that holiday. Attendees can engage in friendly competition at the Hanukkah table, where they’ll learn to play the dreidel game, and think outside the box by designing a paper lantern for Yuan Xiao Jie.
Those in attendance will also have the opportunity to make and take home a memory ornament for Christmas, craft paper beads for a Kwanzaa bracelet and create a small bonfire decoration in honor of Hogmanay and Lohri.
Scavenger hunts are popular during regular family nights, Strnisha said, and the library will host a festive hunt during Holidays Around the World.
Now in its fourth year, Holidays Around the World was born in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Strnisha worked with the library’s then-manager to create an event that catered to the community, and the two decided to hand out make-and-take activities centered on five seasonal holidays, for families to enjoy at home.
“It really was just going to be a one-and-done kind of thing. Now it’s grown; it kind of ends our family nights for the season and it kind of gets everyone excited about all the holidays that are coming up,” Strnisha said.
It also helps Chartiers-Houston Community Library retain its gold star status with the Pennsylvania Library Association’s 21st Century Literacies Initiative, PA Forward. Char-Houston achieved gold star status in late 2020 and has maintained that status since.
“Public libraries were encouraged to do certain things, certain tasks, throughout the year. Those tasks were centered around the five different literacies: basic literacy, health, finance, information, and civic and social literacies. Holidays Around the World fell perfectly into civic and social literacy,” Strnisha said. “It’s giving that voice for different cultures. We want to be a face for the whole entire community. We are a public library for everyone. There may only be one person in our community who knows what Hogmanay is. That person now feels like they have a voice or is included.”
Holidays Around the World is free, and registration is recommended but not required. Strnisha encourages people to drop by, even if it’s just for the last half-hour of the event. She said any leftover activities will be available at the library in the days following the event for those unable to attend Dec. 5.
“In our area, we’re starting to see that more diverse community. We’re trying to include everyone. There’s hopefully more acceptance: it’s OK if I celebrate this and you celebrate that. We can still be friends,” Strnisha said. “As I’m researching these holidays … they all have something in common. I intend to try to keep it going as long as I am here.”
For more information on the Chartiers-Houston Community Library, visit https://www.washlibs.org/chartiers-houston.