Princeton Public Library puts plenty of variety into a winter theme
By: Rachel Silverman
Everybody screamed when the liquid nitrogen hit the floor.
"Minus 321, that’s cold," chemist Bill Bernard said, dumping out a container of the misty stuff.
The room of kids giggled wildly.
"Woaaah," they cried, bobbing up and down as cloud crept toward their chairs.
Wintry experiments were part of the mix Wednesday, when the Princeton Public Library hosted its annual Snow Day extravaganza.
The event, held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., included a full roster of seasonally scintillating activities.
While story-time sessions entertained young ones in the third floor story room, craft projects kept them snipping and gluing all day long.
One project allowed kids to make edible snowmen out of marshmallows and pretzels. Another snowman station offered cotton balls and tongue depressors, while a third set out paper plates and felt strips.
"Each year we tried to add some new and different craft to it to keep it interesting, and keep it fresh," said Children’s Library Assistant Allison Santos, co-organizer of the event.
She estimated teen volunteers readied over 500 paper circles for snowflake cutting.
"Like in nature, no two snowflakes are the same," Ms. Santos said, observing the youngsters at work.
In the other room, snow-related movies like "Snow Man" and "Wintry Tales" transfixed the audience.
And downstairs, Mr. Bernard enthralled the room with interactive demonstrations.
"We’re going to make iceberg lettuce here," he chuckled, dipping a hunk of lettuce into the liquid nitrogen.
He also illustrated how bananas, soap suds and balloons respond to liquefied gas.
"I enjoyed every day I was a chemist," Mr. Bernard, who is now retired, told the audience. "We were always making new stuff."
Youth Services Manager Jan Johnson said that Snow Day, which is now on its fifth year, fills a dire need for programming this week.
"We get a lot of visitors now," she said. "And story times don’t resume until the second week of January."
The library even wintrified itself for the affair.
"We’ve pulled every snowy, wintry related book we can think of," Ms. Santos said, pointing to a shelf of seasonally themed books.
Stuffed penguins, reindeer, owls and bears, bedecked in holiday garb, lined the bookshelves.
A bit of holiday cheer was also evident among the library staff.
"I look forward to it every year," Ms. Johnson said. "I love to read snow stories to the kids and make sure they’re familiar with them.
"But my secret thing is that I love to cut snowflakes," she said in a near whisper. "You have to make sure they’re always six pointed."

