Above: Morinville Community Library Program Coordinator Jessica Shepard makes a ghostly presence displaying a thrift store painting that will be turned into a ghost painting this October. – Stephen Dafoe photo and graphics
by Stephen Dafoe
The Morinville Community Library is offering teens a trio of Halloween-themed programs this October, including ghost painting, trivia night, and blackout poetry, all designed to provide a creative and festive atmosphere for young patrons aged 12 to 17.
New is the Library’s Creation Station, which is going to continue through each of the seasons. The first iteration is a teen workshop for ages 13 to 17 making ghost paintings.
“It’s based on a TikTok trend, where you find old paintings and you repurpose it,” said Morinville Community Library Program Coordinator Jessica Sheppard. “You paint ghosts and Halloween-themed things on the painting. A lot of trends nowadays are repurposing things, and thrifting is becoming more popular.”
Sheppard said the event, which runs on Saturday, Oct. 19, from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., requires registration in advance, but the library will provide all supplies, including the thrift store paintings.
The second event is a Halloween edition trivia night on Wednesday, Oct. 23, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“I’ve made a PowerPoint presentation of a bunch of questions about Halloween-themed things,” Sheppard said. “A lot of them are pop culture, so anyone super into horror movies would do great there.”
Sheppard said attendance at this program is open to those aged 12 to 17, who will form into two teams with a buzzer, similar to a television game show.
The last teen program is Halloween-themed blackout poetry. In this creative literary form, what gets left on the page is more important than what is on the page.
“We’re going to be using discarded books or printouts from them,” Sheppard explained, noting they may use Halloween-themed books. “You circle the words that you want to use in the poetry, and you black out all of the other ones with a Sharpie.”
Sheppard said the blackout poetry program is a free take-home initiative available in the teen area for the month or while supplies last.
“We’re really trying to make sure that teens feel welcome in the library because a lot of teens don’t have that third meeting place to go to, especially in a small town like us,” Sheppard said, noting Higher Grounds and other venues are usually closed soon after school. “The Library is open Monday to Thursday until 8 p.m. If kids want to come in and just hang out, that is totally fine.”
The Morinville Community Library’s teen-themed Halloween coincides with Library Month. A display will be set up, allowing patrons to fill out why they love their library.