Ringing in the 'Noon Year'
<p>Raya Moore, 4, of Coeur d'Alene dances on bubble-wrap taped to the floor as she and other kids her age get excited for the countdown to noon at the Noon Year's Eve event on Thursday at the Hayden Public Library.</p>
<p>At center, Colette Collins, 3, of Coeur d'Alene, parties with other kids her age as they celebrate New Year's at noon at the Noon Year's Eve event Thursday at the Hayden Public Library.</p>
Toddlers toddled, kids crafted — and they all ate doughnuts and drank chocolate milk.
By 11 a.m. on Thursday, nearly 50 kids had already crowded into the Hayden Library for "Noon Year's Eve."
As the noon hour approached and the 10-second countdown began, 125 kids awaited the balloon drop and the opportunity to yell, "Happy Noon Year."
Sayaka Blickenderfer, who regularly brings her two daughters, 4-year-old Hana and 6-year-old Kimi, to the library for story time, had been there for each of the three years of the event. She said the kids really enjoy it. The girls nodded vigorously when asked if they were excited about Noon Year, and continued to make crafts which would resemble fireworks when a straw was shoved through a cone made of construction paper.
"There is always something unique every year," Blickenderfer said. "And the kids love the two librarians that work in the kids section, Miss Mandi and Miss Lauren — and of course the snacks; they love snacks."
Mandi Harris, youth services specialist for Community Library Network, said the event has been successful every year and last year they had about 200 people.
This year, some of the activities other than the crafts included a dance floor covered in bubble wrap, temporary tattoos and the film "Rudolph's Shiny New Year." A play room was set up with two photo booths, a puppet theater, a snowman toss and a variety of toys.
Nick Madsen, youth services specialist, said the event is geared toward children around the ages of 2-10 so the younger children can enjoy an age-appropriate time to celebrate.
"The outcome is to give little kids the chance to have that midnight celebration feel, the thrill of being able to count down and celebrate the new year, but still have it be at a time when it's not midnight," Madsen said.
Harris said not only is this a chance for kids to celebrate without having to stay up until midnight, but it gives the library a chance to give back to the community, which she said has given "so much" to it.
"We want the library to be a community center for people, a safe place for families to come and have fun," Harris said. "Not just to enjoy books together, which we absolutely want, but just a place where they can come as a family and have it be a real family space. And we also hope that if the library is fun, books will be seen as fun, and they can get even more enjoyment out of reading."
Bill Cantrell from Rathdrum said it is his first time bringing his grandchildren to the Noon Year party, since the family had moved from Boise over the summer. He said he enjoys bringing the two children, 3-year-old Payton, and Brody who is almost 2, to the library each week because he likes that it has a lot of programs and is family-oriented.
"I've never seen a library do this anywhere else," Cantrell said. "Even the programs they have during the week where they come in and do crafts and different stuff, I've never seen that, so this is a pretty cool library here for kids. This is fantastic in the winter because it is too cold to go to the park or anything."