It’s the geekiest week in the Delaware County District Library’s year! Today, we kick off our headline event to our annual Great GeekFest with Felicia Day at the Willis Education Center tonight at 7 p.m. Felicia’s visit is followed by the annual Great GeekFest free comic-con for all ages next Saturday, Oct. 22, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
We still have plenty of room in the Willis auditorium for Felicia’s event tonight, so if you haven’t reserved your seat, feel free to just stop by and join us. The doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and Felicia takes the stage 30 minutes later. Our friends at Beanbag Books will be on-site with copies of “You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)” and “Embrace Your Weird” for purchase. Purchases are not required, and the event is completely free to the public.
Once you’ve “geeked out” with us over Felicia, come back on Saturday, Oct. 22, for the 7th annual Great GeekFest! This one-of-a-kind event takes over the entire Delaware Main Library with vendors, artists, comics, cosplay, games and more. The website, www.delawarelibrary.org/GreatGeekFest, has all the details you’ll want regarding the day’s schedule.
Beginning with our littlest library lovers, a Jedi Academy will be offered with training sessions at 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and noon. Sign up at the branch once you arrive at 10 a.m. to claim your spot to learn how to become One with the Force. While you wait for your training session, you might want to join us for a special Superhero Storytime, taking place at 10:30 a.m. Immediately following the storytime, kids can take pictures with some of the amazing costumed characters they’ll find throughout the branch.
Dungeons and Dragons lovers will have two opportunities to join us for play. A special round for 8- to 12-year-olds will begin at 10:30 a.m. with registration beginning at 10 a.m. Later in the day, the D&D tables open for ages 13 and up with four concurrent quests beginning at 1 p.m.
A mainstay of the classic comic-con is the opportunity to view panels and performances. At 11:30 a.m., Robert Sexton will present “Foam Carving for Cosplay.” Sexton will teach attendees how they can use simple materials like foam to craft (safe!) look-alike swords and gear for their cosplay.
Published illustrators Bryan Moss and Grace Ellis join us at 1 p.m. to talk about their experience in the publishing world as they’ve created graphic novels like “The Eightfold Path” and “Moonstruck.”
Later in the day at 4 p.m., join our panel of library staff to discuss your fan theories for season 5 of “Stranger Things.” Warning: Only attend this if you’ve watched all of season 4 – there will be spoilers!
Because of COVID, several of our past Great GeekFests have had to be held virtually, but the one thing that never changed was the annual Cosplay Contest. The art of cosplay is simply dressing in costume as your favorite fiction (and sometimes non-fiction) character. Signups open when the day begins at 10 a.m. and close at 1 p.m. The characters will take the stage at 2 p.m. and the top three winners will be announced by 4 p.m.
The entire atmosphere of the day is kept lively thanks to the ongoing vendor alley, “Geek Lounge,” classic arcade games and video games, and a downtown Delaware scavenger hunt. Keep Saturday, Oct. 22, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. open on your calendar and stop by the Delaware Main Library for lots of fun.
I love a good “fractured fairytale” – a retelling of your favorite classic stories – and if you do, too, you can give one of these titles a try the next time you’re looking for something to read.
• “Sea Witch” by Sarah Henning. “Wicked” meets “The Little Mermaid” in the captivating origin story of the sea’s most iconic villainess. Rendered an outcast after the death of her best friend, a guilt-stricken girl from a small fishing town befriends an offshore newcomer and together they pursue romances with two charming princes before her friend’s aquatic identity comes to light.
• “House of Salt and Sorrows” by Erin A. Craig. In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed. When her beautiful sisters must dance at glittering balls night after night before they start dying in tragic accidents, Annaleigh questions her involvement with a mysterious stranger and wonders if she will be next.
• “Briar Rose” by Jane Yolen. Ever since she was a child, Rebecca has been enchanted by her grandmother Gemma’s stories about Briar Rose. But a promise Rebecca makes to her dying grandmother will lead her on a remarkable journey to uncover the truth of Gemma’s astonishing claim: “I am Briar Rose.” A journey that will lead her to unspeakable brutality and horror. But also to redemption and hope, in this powerful retelling of the fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty.”
• “The Hazel Wood” by Melissa Albert. Having spent most of her life on the run from uncanny bad luck, 17-year-old Alice ventures into a mysterious supernatural world to save her mother, who has been stolen away by a figure claiming to be a character from Alice’s late grandmother’s cult-classic book of dark fairy tales.
