A different kind of holiday season at the Carnegie Free Library

Anyone who’s worked at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall for any of the last six Decembers will tell you about the magic and conviviality of our traditional holiday collaboration with the borough, known as “Carnegie Celebrates the Season.” For three special hours, Carnegie families share in the warmth of community: making wintery crafts, snacking on cookies, meeting Santa himself – and above all, forming fond memories of togetherness.

I’m sure I don’t need to remind anyone that “togetherness” has been an elusive thing this year! As I write this in mid-November, many of us are making difficult choices about gathering with our extended families for Thanksgiving this year. And since our building first closed in March, we’ve reluctantly refrained from planning in-person library programs. Back then, we couldn’t have guessed that large indoor gatherings would still be impossible so many months later!

If you’ve attended “Carnegie Celebrates the Season” in past years, you understand how special this tradition is. We knew that we had to find a way to carry on, even in the face of a winter that promises new challenges. We were delighted, therefore, when Magistrate and former Carnegie Mayor Jack Kobistek reached out to us. He, the Carol Covi Children’s Event Committee, and the borough are just as eager as the Library & Music Hall is to offer Carnegie families this small dose of normalcy in a time of turmoil.

We hope you’ll join us for the seventh year of “Carnegie Celebrates the Season,” on the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 6 from 2-3:30 p.m. We’ve adapted it to an outdoor, “drive-by” experience. We even convinced Santa to make time in his schedule to wave a greeting to our families – plus he’ll bring along his mailbox to collect your letters! And every kid will receive a special gift, along with a holiday craft kit to complete at home. To ensure safety, walkers are welcome from 3 p.m. on. You won’t be turned away as long you arrive by 3:30.

This isn’t the only winter program we’re offering this December. By popular demand, our own JoLynne Dougherty is offering a brand new holiday edition of her wonderful paper quilling class on Dec. 12. If you’ve never tried quilling, it’s a simple but flexible art form that scholars believe originated in ancient Egypt. You’ll learn to create delicate rolls from paper strips, then manipulate them into lovely shapes and forms. In this program, we’ll be making holiday cards – a perfectly unique home-made gift!

You can register to take part by signing up at www.CarnegieCarnegie.org or calling 412-276-3456. We’ll contact you to set up a time for you to come pick up your supply kit (curbside, with no contact), and give you a link to connect to the program via Zoom.

There’s no doubt that 2020 has been a memorable year – often in a trying, exhausting, sad way. As we close the book on the decade, we at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall hope to bring a little more light into the lives of our community members, refocus on creativity and shared family moments…and hopefully, help to create a few more happy memories. We hope you’ll join us.