One of the holes from last year’s mini-golf event at the library.
Reminder Publishing file photo
HOLYOKE — Get some put-put practice while time still lasts as the Holyoke Public Library is set to host its annual Mini Golf and Games at the Library fundraiser event on Saturday, April 20.
From 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., all ages are welcomed to participate in a round of mini golf throughout the halls of the public library. This year’s 18 holes inside the library will be free for all, a change that the library hopes will encourage more attendees to explore and see what their local library has to offer.
“We just wanted to make it free this year,” Holyoke Public Library Development Associate Nancy Kocsmiersky said on the change. “This is definitely a come and check out the library event, come and see what we have.”
The event will also feature a free human foosball tournament in the library’s park from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Teams of six will compete for bragging rights and can register a team at the library the day of the event.
Alongside those activities, the event will also feature a lucky ticket raffle for prizes and a food truck on site from 11:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Prizes from the raffle include a gift card to 110 Grill, two movie passes to Amherst Cinema, a Ted Williams signed baseball, a free ride on a Holyoke Fire Department fire truck, four guest passes to the Holyoke Children’s Museum, a YMCA Holyoke three-month membership and much more.
Kocsmiersky said they will be operating under its regular hours during the event and that the day adds a lot of joy inside the building seeing children playing mini golf immersed between the bookshelves of the library.
“Every year we have people who are like, ‘oh my gosh, I’ve never been here before,’ and I’m like now that you see how awesome this is please come back,” Kocsmiersky said. “We really want the community to know that we’re here, all the things we provide and just how beautiful a space it is.”
The first mini golf event inside the library halls came in April 2016 and funds raised in previous years would go to support different programs or projects for the library. With this year’s event being free to the public, Kocsmiersky said it was important for the library to extend a free invitation to the public to encourage people to visit the event and be aware of the resource the library is for the community.
“We have so many resources. Not just books,” Kocsmiersky said.
The 18-hole course begins on the top floor of the building in and around the non-fiction stacks and reference stacks. Play continues down the stairs and throughout the children’s room on Level 2, then down to the fiction stacks, Level 1, and the teen room on the ground level.
Volunteers are still needed as Kocsmiersky said the more volunteers the better for this event. For more information on how to volunteer, email nancy@holyokelibrary.org or call 413-420-8109. You can also sign up online at holyokelibrary.org/pages/index/227230/library-minigolf-and-games.
“It’s going to be a great day. Adults, children, everyone can come and play. It really is a great event and kids will love it,” Kocsmiersky said. “We have adults who come here as groups too with no kids so it is a fun event.”
