November 2016

​Malvern Public Library Halloween Party Showcases Local Youth Talent
By Rebecca Bassich, Library Director
 
The library’s Comics & Cosplay Club had their first annual Halloween Party on the night of October 27th, 2016, and what a wonderful time it was for all! The party was attended by costumed kids of all ages, each having an enthusiasm for learning and having fun while doing it. Headed by Director Rebecca Bassich, the events of the night kicked off with a whirlwind lesson on Japanese vocabulary for Halloween. You see, a shared passion among our Comics & Cosplay Club members is Japanese media and culture.

“Here’s my favorite Japanese Halloween word for pumpkin. Everyone, repeat after me: Kabocha!”

“KABOCHA!”

With smiles all around, partygoers did their best to learn and recite aloud the new Japanese vocabulary together as a group. We learned such words as obake (ghost), majo (witch) and Harowin (Halloween).  This was all done as a warm-up to the first big event of the evening: Japanase Karaoke.
Everyone was provided with booklets containing lyrics to a variety of Halloween-themed tunes sung in both Japanese and English. Each Japanese song posed a new challenge to even the most seasoned Comics & Cosplay club members: attempting to sing in Japanese! Partygoers danced, sang and laughed their way through even the most difficult of songs. We learned some new Japanese words and, best of all, had fun while doing it! To conclude karaoke, everyone received a special gift package containing a variety of Japanese-themed treats and merchandise to enjoy.
With the Halloween spirit now in full swing, we began the main event of the evening: the Cosplay Contest.

Cosplay is a unique form of costuming that involves building your own character suit from scratch and, once completed, performing as that persona. This contest provided participants the opportunity to not only show off their artistic talents but to compete for a grand prize package containing surprise anime-related goodies and a cosplay costume-making guidebook. Each contestant had a 5-minute time allotment to not only model their costume but to put on an in-character performance. Contestants were judged on overall stage presence, entertainment, look and construction. We saw anime characters, monsters, rock stars and pirates. There were skits, choreographed dances, speeches and a lot of talent! The grand prize winner of our Cosplay Contest, Serenity Torkelson, built her very own costume from scratch and put on an awesome show at the party for her audience.

​Congratulations, Serenity!

To conclude the night’s festivities, librarians Janet Vanatta and Rebecca Bassich hosted a Halloween movie night complete with pizza and plenty of treats. By the end of the party, everyone was abuzz with plenty of sugar and the Halloween spirit. We of the Malvern Public Library would like to extend our thanks to everyone who attended and made this party the amazingly fun-filled event that it was. We are already looking forward to seeing your cosplay creations at next year’s Comics & Cosplay Halloween Party. From all of us at Malvern Public Library to you, we would like to wish you a most Happii Harowin!