By James Ensor
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Everyone knows that having fun isn’t hard with a library card, but for the young families of Westwood, membership was not required for mini-golf at the Islington branch of the library. Conveniently located at 280 Washington St. in Westwood, minutes away from Legacy Place in Dedham, Islington’s smaller, community-oriented branch of the public library has always been a destination for families seeking wholesome entertainment.
On Wednesday, July 27, from 6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m., the Islington branch transformed from a cozy library into a miniature golf course in order to give local youths a chance to prove their putting chops. Masking tape and pool noodles weaved their way through shelves and walls lined with books to delineate the course. Obstacles included books opened halfway, which the young golfers had to guide their balls through to sink the makeshift holes.
“We decided to do this program, have mini-golf, for families in Westwood to bring their kids and have a fun summer program and get kids in the library,” said Jenny Durant, who organized the event with the help of Lizzie McGovern and many other volunteers.
Approximately 25 families attended the last event here, and roughly the same number seemed to be pouring in to play miniature golf on this occasion as well. Jenny also advertised “a Little Olympics on August 18, firefly story time at School St. playground, and many other activities at the main library.”
Beating the heat and encouraging local kids’ interest in reading are the driving motives for these events. All signs proved that this was working as a steady stream of young families were greeted at the door by a young girl handing out slips of paper and pencils to act as score cards.
“The main library is brand new, it’s got all new technology and anything you could want. Our branch library is a little bit smaller, a bit more of a neighborhood library,” Jenny explained, “but we collaborate a lot, we do a lot of events together with the main branch and we both have the same mission to serve the families of Westwood.”
More information about both the main Westwood Library and the Islington Branch can be found online at http://www.westwoodlibrary.org. Best of luck to all the competitors at the Islington Little Olympics ’16!
