Visit the Warsaw Community Public Library for seasonal books, audio materials, and events. Photo provided by WCPL staff.

By Amy Mann
Children’s Services

It’s less than three months until Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, but we have some more holidays coming.

Halloween, Veterans’ Day, and Thanksgiving come to mind.

Autumn brings crisp evenings with glowing backyard fires and, sometimes, scary stories. Check the library’s October newsletter in print or at warsawlibrary.org for reviews of two engaging books, “Cobwebs, Chatters and Chills,” compiled and annotated by Patricia M. Stockland and illustrated by Sara Rojo Perez, and “The Haunted Lake.” Author P.J. Lynch is a former Irish Children’s Laureate.

The three-book “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” series is available in physical book form and in a downloadable format at Warsaw Community Public Library. “When the Lights Go Out; Twenty Scary Stories to Tell” is also available in the library’s juvenile non-fiction section. For younger patrons, the library has many frightening (but usually sweet-ending) books and Halloween titles. Come check them out.

Story times will continue this month with baby and toddler time at 10:15 a.m. Wednesdays, and preschool-aged children (ages 3 to 5) on Mondays and Fridays. These programs are also at 10:15 a.m., soon after the library opens its doors to the public. The program is repeated on Friday, so you can choose the day that’s better for your family. The stories may or may not be scary. Do you dare?

Other upcoming programs include fall children’s take-home crafts, available until supplies run out, beginning on Oct. 19. Also on Oct. 19, bring Minecraft-minded children to play the game with other kids in Room C from 4:30-5:30 p.m. If your young ones love building with LEGOs, library staff have two opportunities for them to join others in creating and showing off what they have imagined and made. Come to LEGO Club from 4-5:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22, and/or from 10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 23.

Please encourage your kids to meet their librarians. We love to talk to young patrons, and we’re not too scary. We promise.