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Barnes and Noble hosts reading of ‘The Polar Express’ book
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Development director of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County Debbie Liptak read the book "The Polar Express" to the children who gathered at Barnes & Noble.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.A crowd of more than two dozen adults and children gathered at Barnes & Noble to hear a reading of the book "The Polar Express."
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Friends of the East library member Cheryl Moss handed a parent tickets to be filled out so her children could be entered into a drawing to win a CD for the Polar Express.
By TIM CLEVELAND
More than two dozen adults and children gathered at Barnes and Noble, located at 381 Boardman Poland Road, on Dec. 5 to hear a reading of the children’s book “The Polar Express,” do a craft and get a chance to win a copy of the CD of the book.
The event was sponsored by the Friends of the East library. Development director of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County Debbie Liptak read “The Polar Express,” which was written by Chris Van Allsburg and made into a movie in 2004 starring Tom Hanks.
“We do a lot of events together,” Barnes and Noble manager Katie Schimley said. “We just kind of coordinated. I have a community relations manager who does a lot of business with them. They got together and collaborated to put this event on.”
The children constructed a reindeer craft, which was made of popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, glue and red fuzzy noses. The children were handed small bells to ring during the story, were served hot cocoa and cookies and were asked to attend in their pajamas.
The Friends of the East library also spent the event accepting donations to gift wrap purchases made at Barnes and Noble, the donations going toward fundraisers and events the East Friends put on. Anyone making a purchase during the event could tell the cashier they wanted to help the Friends of the library, with a portion of their purchase going to the Friends.
East Friends member Cheryl Moss assisted Liptak during the reading, passing out yellow tickets for parents to put their children’s names on for a chance to win a CD of “The Polar Express.”
Schimley said having the East Friends put the event on was good for Barnes and Noble’s business.
“They’re really good with the children,” she said. “They do a lot of events, very interactive with their story times. It gets them exposure as well as brings people into the store here.
“The sales for the ‘Polar Express’ definitely increased during this event. It’s a big event for us.”