It is never too early to start preparing for Halloween, especially if you plan to design a fabulous haunted library display as the Williams Public Library did! Get tips below on how to create an exciting Halloween event in your own library from the Williams Public Library Director, Danielle Sanders.

 

I am pleased to announce the August We Love Libraries winner is the New Milford Library in New Milford, New Jersey. 

How to Turn Your Public Library into a Haunted House by Danielle Sanders

Williams Public Library has had a fun and exciting year.

 

We experienced our first-ever Haunted House in the Library in October 2022. Families and friends joined the library for an evening of fun for every age group. Williams Public Library and The City of Williams hosted a large walk-through Haunted house, using the library’s large open floor plan. The haunted house extended into the city parking lot, which was lined with vehicles from Community Clubs, Williams Police, and Fire Department, and representatives from many local businesses ready to hand out candy to the families.

We divided our Library into two sections. One section was created as a kid-friendly zone, which included a colorful walk-through spider maze, complete with balloon obstacles. Our second zone was set up for our young adults and adults, or anyone who was up for a little scare. We had a wonderful turnout overall, with attendance estimated at 648 participants.

The community support from individual patrons, local businesses, and community groups made the family Halloween event possible! The Williams Kiwanis Club donated and hosted a bake sale at the entrance of the event, helping to raise funds for the Library Programs. The Williams Rotary Club donated and helped hand out candy, keeping the trunk-or-treat portion of the event up and running. 

To pull it off, this Haunted House required the help of the building inspector and library programs assistant, Stacey Foss; library grants administrator, Joanna Dahm; and library director, Danielle Sanders.

 

The community has requested that it become an annual event, and we can’t wait to host it again in the upcoming year! 

We Love Libraries Winner: The New Milford Public Library!

Former New Milford Library staff are pictured with books by SinC member authors, Walking on My Grave by Carolyn Hart, Bad Blood by Dana Stabenow, Playing with Fire by Tess Gerritsen, and No Witness But the Moon by Suzanne Chazin. 

The New Milford Public Library opened in 1936 as a subscription library with 75 founding members. At that time, annual subscriptions cost $1.00. Today, the library serves more than 9,000 patrons and circulates in excess of 180,000 items per year.

 

The $500 We Love Libraries grant will go toward purchasing large print mystery titles. Congratulations to the New Milford Public Library!

 

To find out more about all SinC offers, including live webinars, please visit our website.

 

Thank you for all you do for your communities. Sisters in Crime loves libraries.

 

Susan Hammerman
Library Liaison

 

 

Susan Hammerman, a former rare book librarian, is the Library Liaison and coordinator of the We Love Libraries program. Susan writes crime and neo-noir short stories. Her stories have appeared in Suspense Magazine, Mystery Magazine, Dark City Mystery Magazine, Blood and Bourbon, Retreats From Oblivion, and the Stories (Within) anthology. Website and Twitter 

 

WLL and WLB News Editor: Gail Lukasik’s latest book, White Like Her: My Family’s Story of Race and Racial Passing, was named one of the most inspiring stories of the year by The Washington Post. She is also the author of the Leigh Girard Mystery series and the stand-alone mystery, The Lost Artist. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, such as The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, and The Georgia Review. Gail appeared in the documentary, History of Memory, which is available on Amazon Prime. Her fifth mystery, The Darkness Surrounds Us, a Gothic, historical mystery, will be released September 5, 2023. Website: www.gaillukasik.com

Here's a spreadsheet with our members' books. This month's releases are in a separate worksheet. Sort the spreadsheet by author name, location, title, or release date.

Sisters in Crime hosts LIVE webinars each month. Webinars last 60-90 minutes depending on the topic and the audience questions! These webinars are open to all.

Looking for diverse books? For many years, SINC has curated Frankie’s List, an extensive list of crime novels by people of color and other marginalized groups. Frankie Y. Bailey, building on work by the late Eleanor Taylor Bland, began to compile a list of published Black crime writers over a decade ago. Frankie has expanded the list to include other WOC and LGBTQ+ authors. Here’s a link: https://www.sistersincrime.org/page/FrankiesList