Virginia Beach kicked off Library Card Sign-Up Month with a shoe-themed celebration Saturday at the Joint-Use Library.
Kids ventured down a slide wrapped in a cardboard design to look like a giant sneaker. They also decorated their library cards and shoes.
Vada Carawan, 13, added small plastic gems to the stars on her Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars. The shoes are named for a long-ago basketball player and are far different from modern basketball shoes. But “Chucks” remain fashionable.
“I'm bedazzling them, so I hope they’ll be cute,” said Carawan, who volunteers with the libraries, while decorating.
Virginia Beach is celebrating Library Card Sign-Up Month by giving existing and new cardholders a chance to win one of 10 pairs of custom Converse All Star high-tops and library-themed socks through a drawing.
Any time in September, people can sign up for a new card or show their card or a photo ID linked to an account to a library staff member to get a code to enter the drawing, which will be held through the library’s Beanstack application so entrants need an account.
Delaware artist Rachael Flores will embroider the shoes with a colorful design and a quote that’s sometimes attributed to Cicero: “A room without a book is like a body without a soul.” The Virginia Beach Library Foundation is sponsoring the contest.
“It's reminding families and our community members who already have library cards of all the great things available to them at their library,” said Katie Cerqua, a regional library manager. “It's also encouraging families and people who don't necessarily use their library to come out and explore.”
In “Chuck Taylor, All Star,” author Abraham Aamidor wrote that Chucks “remain virtually unchanged after decades: rubber-soled, double-wall canvas body, and the circular ankle patch with a bright blue star in the middle and Chuck Taylor’s signature across it.”
Aamidor’s book is part of the Virginia Beach collection, by the way.
Contest winners will be announced Oct. 10. They can select the shoe size and color. And those who don’t walk away with sneakers still have their very own library card.
That’s recommended by Eden Newman, 8, who decorated her library card on Saturday.
“If they don't have their own library card, they’ll have to use their mom’s or dad’s library card,” Eden said. “And I think it's fun just having your own.”
