Laura Raynor

The Ann Arbor District Library hosts Family Cultural Celebrations approximately four times per year. These events are coordinated and hosted by the incredible children's librarian Laura Raynor, and typically include a performance, sampling of a traditional food, and a craft from the culture being celebrated.
For the Family Cultural Celebration of Poland (FCCP), a local Polish dance troupe, Syrena Dance Ensemble, performed and modeled traditional clothing. Although the dances and accompanying music were less than authentic, the young performers were fun to watch and the crowd seemed to enjoy the show. We then got to try a slice of a poppyseed cake called makowiec, after all of the children had taken a piece. This part of the program was held in the basement of the downtown branch of the library and it continued in the Youth room on the main floor. There we found two crafts: making a medallion mobile or a dragon. The mobile consisted of coloring a Polish design and gluing it, along with sequins and ribbons, to a red disc of cardstock to be hung up by a piece of yarn. These were really fun to make and were especially popular with girls and older kids, and even their parents and grandparents. The dragon was a black-and-white print that could be decorated with squares of green tissue paper and glued onto a piece of green construction paper and colored with crayons. This craft was most popular with boys and younger kids. At both craft tables, patrons wanted to continue making things long after the program was over and several people, children and adults, made more than one craft. Meanwhile, in the storytime area, another local performer, Piotr Dworak, played Polish children's songs on guitar and led children in the activities and games that go along with them. He was especially popular with children up to about age four or five, of which there were at least 25 playing and dancing along to his music.
This program offered something for everyone. The venue was ideal because there was enough space for everyone and in spite of a large crowd it did not feel crowded. The program lasted for one and a half hours, but because of the variety of offerings it did not feel too long and families had the option of arriving and leaving at any time. There was obviously a lot of work that went into planning and hosting this program, and the patrons' obvious enjoyment affirmed that it was worth it.… (mais)