This will be the ninth annual Halloween gala the library has held, and each year has seen a different theme. This year’s theme is pirates. Details of the party are being kept secret, but there will be special pirate guests turning up to tell tales. Librarian Donna Lach also promises “a parrot, but I cannot say any more. Isn’t there always a parrot in a pirate story?�

The gala party will be open to everyone who enters the library’s Halloween pumpkin contest, which opened on Oct. 6 and

concludes this Friday at 9 p.m.

Entry forms for the contest are available at the library. Contestants must decorate a pumpkin, without carving it, and bring it to the library along with an entry form in order to join the contest.

There are four different age categories for the contest, including one for whole families. A winner will be chosen in each age category at the Saturday gala.

Contestants are invited to turn up to the gala in costume. Everyone who attends will be given a special Halloween gift bag. This year’s party will run until 4 p.m., and Lach anticipates a fun, eventful afternoon.

“We always put in these spooky stories,� she said. “Storytelling is important to the gala because it’s dear to us. We do prepare (events for the gala), but we always do leave it open to a few surprises along the way. The important thing is to have the atmosphere and the literary twist to it, and to have the kids show off their creativity.�

Lach notes that the Halloween gala has grown each year. “We really do love to do it because we have such a positive response, and the community is so amazing. It’s so popular now that we have to make sure that we don’t have too many invitations, because the room is so small it’s full to bursting. We want to enjoy ourselves, but we also want everyone else to enjoy it with us ... We enjoy doing it, and we want to keep on doing it for many years.�

Lach has been involved in every gala since the first, along with children’s librarian Wendy Wayling.

“Back in 1998 I was just starting out, and Wendy was here ... I am so lucky that Wendy and I have this amazing relationship that we can bounce ideas off each other, and act a little silly when it comes to Halloween ... She’s fearless. It wouldn’t be the same without Wendy—it definitely wouldn’t.�

The gala is the library’s main Halloween event, but there are special decorations and displays throughout the library, and all pumpkins submitted for the contest will be on display until Halloween.