Heights Library Toy Sleepover Event Becomes a Popular Tradition

Youngsters arrived at the Hasbrouck Heights Library on a March Friday evening all clad in their PJs and armed with one of their favorite stuffed toys ready for a sleepover.

But it was their stuffed animal that would stay overnight at the library for the second annual stuffed animal sleepover, an event that has quickly grown into a popular event and growing tradition.

This was the second year the library and the Junior Friends put this event together for the neighborhood children. This year the event drew about 50 children and their stuffed animals.

Marie Joyce, children's librarian, entertained the children with story-telling, sing-a-longs and a craft they could take home to enjoy. Then the children tucked their animals and bade them 'goodnight."

With help of members of the Teen Advisory Council and the Junior Friends of the Hasbrouck Heights Library, the stuffed animals ruled the library and dictated their own rules, climbing over stacks of books, playing with the computers and ordering food. The animals enjoyed their own night of freedom while awaiting their owners return.

On Saturday morning the children and their parents picked up their stuffed animals and enjoyed a continental breakfast provided by the Junior Friends of the Library. The children were also given a photo collage of their stuffed animal's night of frolicking around the library.