Children clad in costumes and fall-weather outfits weaved in and out of the crowd at Natick’s annual Spooktacular & Trick or Treat Parade at the Town Common this past Saturday.
New promoters, the Bacon Free Library and the Joseph Keefe Bookmobile, joined the standard slate of local community partners in attendance.
Director of the Bacon Free Library, Amy Sadkin, emphasized how essential public libraries are to the community. “It’s so important for kids to be able to read — and adults as well,” she said. “And we provide educational materials for all ages. So, it’s great to be able to meet everybody and talk about it.”
On one side of the city green space, the Bacon Free Library booth offered button-making with Halloween-themed images, as well as information and a sign-up list labeled, “Trustees of the Bacon Free Library” for people interested in volunteering, donating or learning more about the library.
Across the Common, the Bookmobile was parked on the street. Emily Toombs, the Outreach Librarian for the Morse Institute Library, was dressed as the character Enid from the horror-comedy Netflix show “Wednesday.” The Bookmobile was also dressed in Wednesday-themed decorations, including an animated Nevermore Academy screen on the exterior. The inside of the Bookmobile featured fake spiderwebs and spider decorations.
According to Toombs, the Bookmobile’s main purpose is to bring literacy to the community. The mobile library stays primarily in Natick, but it’s drivable.
“I think to be able to bring reading to people is really cool, because not everybody has access to get to the library all the time,” said Natick resident Cris Flores, who attended Spooktacular with his wife and two children. “So, to be able to have the different community stops, I think it’s great.”
The Bookmobile also serves as a listening post for the Morse Institute Library. “Knowing what interests people in the community, what languages we need to be stocking in the library and then also making people aware that we’re here for them,” said Toombs, describing the library’s goals. “We’re their librarians, and we’re here for the community, and we want to put on the shelves what people want.”
In addition, Flores said Spooktacular is also good for businesses. “It’s great (for businesses) because there’s so many, we all get to know Natick in and out because they’re here, representing their business.”
For both the Bookmobile and the Bacon Free Library, funding largely comes from external sources. The volunteer-led nonprofit, Friends of the Morse Institute Library, buys most of the Bookmobile’s collection. The town of Natick and donors fund the Bacon Free Library’s services and programming.
Natick resident Lily Sun said she and her family enjoy supporting local businesses at community events. “It provides a very safe environment for us struggling with young kids, where we can just trust them and come here and spend our morning,” she said. “We come here, (and) we try to support local businesses.”