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The decorations the members of the Kingsly family are working on in Southport are pretty simple. They're just slips of paper, decorated by dad Ken, son Noah, 5, and daughter Julia, 3. They hang on the Pequot Library's tree by a short piece of yarn.
But for Bridgeport schoolchildren, the ornaments are a symbol. Because the Kingsly family are making their ornaments as part of the library's "Give a Book" donation drive, they mean that some classroom in Bridgeport will get a gift next year: much-needed books.
"There's nothing better than to give back books," Ken says. The donation drive, carried out at the Peqout Library's Caroling Party on Wednesday night, is part of a larger program by the library to send more books to cash-strapped schools in Bridgeport and New Haven. Along with projects like this one at their holiday parties, they also make regular donations throughout the year to teachers in those two cities to buy books for their classrooms.
"It's a great way to support the underserved schools in Bridgeport and New Haven," library Executive Director Daniel Snydacker said.
But the hundreds of Fairfield families that stopped by the library Wednesday evening found more than just a way to give back. The library also set up tables where children could decorate more ornaments, build pinecone birdfeeders and ice their own cookies. (The latter was the runaway favorite among the kids.)
In the next room, the Revs. Paul and Laura Whitmore and the Southport Congregational Church choir led a sing-along of Christmas carols. And the line stretched the full way across the library's front lawn for another kid-friendly favorite: horse-drawn carriage rides around Southport.
"It's just a great way to gather the community," said Daniel. "It's a chance for people to come together, and a chance for generations to come togetheryoung, old, parents, grandparents ... whoever."
Were you at the Pequot Library on Wednesday night? Tell us your favorite part in the comments, or post your own photos to our Facebook page.
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