Children Get a Taste of An Old Fashioned Christmas

In a world run rampant with fast-paced technology — from portable music players to tablets to e-readers — some might be apt to forget the joy a library filled with books can bring. On Dec. 18, the Colton Public Library reminded children that good experiences can be created at the library and the let them know that the library cares for them. In the library's "Old Fashioned Christmas" event, children experienced a night filled with magic and wonder. "It's important to bring [children] into the library and show them them all the diferent types of services the library provides through fun events such as An Old Fashioned Christmas," said Christine Juedes, the library clerk of the Colton Public Library who works in the department of children services within the library. Starting the night, 6-year-old Desiree Flores entertained the audience of parents and children with renditions of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Angels We Have Heard On High" on the piano. Flores stated how happy she was being able to play the keyboard for everyone in attendance. The children were then read to from two different books that evening by Paulinne Lopes and Pat Chaves, two of the library board trustees. As Santa Claus and his elves made their entrance and surprised the young ones, library patrons observed happiness all over the children's faces. Children followed Santa into his "magical" room, where each child in attendance had the chance to sit on his lap, speak to him, and were then surprised by a free gift from Santa. "It was awesome! I always thought seeing Santa was impossible," 6-year-old Emily Perez said. Edward Pedroza is the current library supervisor of the Colton Public Library and has always found events for children to be a fundamental part of a library. "Its wonderful," Pedroza said. "As a librarian, it's my personal philosophy to provide a quality experience every time [children] come to the library. That's why we come up with ways to keep providing those experiences, not just the for the one time they come, but every time they come." At the end of the night, refreshments were distributed to the children, provided by the Friends of the Library. Library officials explained the "Friends" played an important in this event. The Friends of the Library is a non-profit organization strictly made up of volunteers who help in creating various events and programs aimed at children. The organization also works in an effort to fundraise for the library and provide it with any necessities — funds for the Dec. 18 event were raised by the organization, which provided the refreshments, the free gifts and free photos. Friends of the Library sponsored the event, along with Eagle Property Management & Real Estate. "It's very important to keep the library running," said Linda Tripp, president of Friends of the Library. "Kids are our next generation, they are our leaders. They need to be taken care of and what better place to do that than in a library? Too many kids nowadays don't even know what a library is and we need to bring them back; activities are one means of accomplishing that. We need to bring more things to kids; they've lost so much. They can't do the things I used to enjoy as a child and it is nice for them to still have a place left in which they can experience what I did growing up."