By Malynda Fulton
VALDOSTA — Snow glistened as Jack Frost nipped at the noses of several children who attended the Valdosta-Lowndes County Library’s third annual Snow Day event Saturday.
Between 3 and 5 p.m., children of all ages could be seen in hoods, gloves and boots trampling through snow, building snowmen and making small snow angels. Some parents watched in delight while others dodged snowball attacks from their children.
Little Destiny Brown, 5, packed piles of snow on top of each other to complete her snow castle as her older brother Devin joined the crowd of children in a snowball war. Destiny said she had never seen actual snow and mentioned that it reminded her of one of her favorite holiday movies, “Frosty the Snowman.”
“During the winter months, we read several stories about kids playing in snow and snowmen to the children,” said Christie Paulk, a coordinator of the event. “Snow Day is held for all the children who have never seen or played in snow. This is our way of giving a gift back to the community.”
Five tons of snow are always donated by Adel Ice for the annual event. Through generous donations by Friends of the Library and Dr. Ken Register, the library was able to obtain five additional tons this year. After playing in the snow, participants warmed themselves up with hot chocolate provided by the Friends of the Library and brownies from Chick-fil-A.
“The event has had a wonderful turnout and hopefully it will encourage families to get more involved at the library,” Paulk said. “In addition to Snow Day and our annual summer reading program, we have lots of children’s programs for babies to teenagers, as well as adult GED classes and computer access. As the economy has gone down, we have seen a tremendous growth in the number of people who visit the library regularly. We are just happy to be here to support the community.”
Paulk added that the library has suffered extreme budget cuts as well due to the dwindling economy, which makes the need for support from the community important to continue to offer such special events and programs.
“We have been very fortunate for the support we have gotten from Friends of the Library, Lowndes County and the sponsors of the summer reading program,” she said. “There are libraries in other areas that have had to close their doors due to the financial restraints. We are just very lucky and happy about what we have been able to do. We have done a lot with a little and kept a smile.”
The South Georgia Regional Library System is comprised of six branches, housing over 200,000 books. The library also offers high-speed Internet access and a talking book center for the visually impaired. The Valdosta-Lowndes County Library is located at 300 Woodrow Wilson Drive.
