Mars, Zelie libraries offer cartoon nostalgia
“Yabba dabba doo!”
Echoes of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s were heard at both Zelienople and Mars public libraries Saturday, June 20, as the libraries offered different cartoon-themed events.
Diving into the past, both feature creating prehistoric programming as part of the nationwide summer reading program themed, “Unearth a Story.”
Mars Area Public Library got in on the dinosaur cartoon fun, offering a “Flintstones” cartoon watch party called Yabba-Dabba Saturday.
Just under 25 people joined in on the Saturday morning Flintstone fun, enjoying a few bites of Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles cereals offered by the library.
Some guests even committed to the theme and showed up in their pajamas.
While the younger patrons still sat through the cartoons, one Mars library staff member said she felt parents felt nostalgic for the shows they watched as children or young adults.
“Kids also had the chance to make Fred Flintstone’s iconic tie, try their hand at Bedrock Bowling and complete a prehistoric search-and-find,” Mars library director Janae Callihan said in an email.
Zelienople Area Public Library made sure not to count out the adults in all of the prehistoric fun, gearing programming toward the young at heart with its Retro Cartoon Day for Grown-Ups.
The library played “Schoolhouse Rock!” cartoons in honor of America’s 250th anniversary and highlights from “Saturday Morning with Sid & Marty Krofft,” a nostalgic ’70s program.
“Everybody likes to think back to a time when you were more carefree,” said Zelienople adult librarian Amy Hellner who planned the event.
Staff said the events are just one way libraries build connections for adults and children alike during the summer reading program.
“I love that we can connect people,” Zelie children services librarian Alyssa Smith said.
Part of the library’s mission is to make connections, whether that’s through learning or bringing people together over a common interest in and starting conversations.
“Whether it’s about remembering watching cartoons as a kid or what their Saturday mornings look like now as adults,” Smith said.
Butler County is a federated system, sharing resources between its nine libraries, but each maintains its independence for programming. Each library puts its own spin on the summer reading theme, meaning library patrons are free to join as many different programs as they want since they are all unique to the individual library.
Mars Area Public Library is planning to have another Yabba-Dabba Saturday on July 18. Zelienople Area Public Library has yet to plan another Retro Cartoon Day for Grown-Ups.
To find more information on a Butler County library summer reading program near you, visit the Butler County Federated Library System website.
