By Nick Kuzma Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News)- Some people like Christmas, others prefer Thanksgiving. Jessie Moore likes Halloween.
Moore is the Teen Services Librarian Assistant at the Frederick W. Betts Branch of the Onondaga County Public Library.
She loved Halloween as a kid and said it was one of her favorite days growing up.
Unfortunately, many Syracuse children and their families cannot afford to buy Halloween costumes and have the same experiences that Moore did as a child.
In seeing this, the librarian decided that she wanted to make a difference. She started a Halloween costume drive at Betts Branch so that more kids will get the chance to wear a cool costume on October 31.
“I think that it’s part of my job as a librarian,” Moore said, “to make sure that I am sort of tapped in to what’s happening in the community. And also to make sure that we are providing the best we can at the library as sort of a community resource.”
Moore, ironically, started working at the Betts Branch last Halloween and has used her job to make a positive change in the community she grew up in.
“This is the only place that has ever really felt like home to me,” said Moore. “So I feel deeply connected to this community and especially to helping people in it.”
Betts Branch has received few donations so far and is accepting clean gently used costumes via mail and walk-in delivery.
The drive continues until October 20.
(Track 1)
October is here and with it comes Halloween preparations…
…By the end of this month kids from all over the area will buy their costumes from places like Party City or Spirit of Halloween…
…But this isn’t so easy for everyone…
(Stand up)
At some costume stores it costs kids and their families as much 50 or 100 dollars to dress up as their favorite action hero or princess for Halloween. But the staff here at the Betts Branch of the Onondaga County PublicLibrary says that is unacceptable. Halloween fun should be affordable for everyone…
(Track 2)
Since many in Syracuse cannot afford to spend a lot of money on Halloween costumes, Betts Branch Teen Services Librarian Assistant Jessie Moore decided to start a costume drive…Moore wanted to start the drive because she believes her job goes farther than just helping a patron navigate the Dewey Decimal System…
(SOT)
“I think that it’s part of my job as a librarian is to make sure that I am sort of tapped in to what’s happening in the community and also to make sure that we are providing the best that we can at the library as sort of a community resource. So lots of people think of libraries as just sort of book warehouses but that’s not all that we do and we do try to sort of expand our reach in to the community in what we can do.”
(Track 3)
According to a report released from the US Census Bureau last month, Syracuse is one of the top 10 poorest cities in the country…
…This fact is not lost on Moore who was born and raised in the area and says there is nowhere else she would rather help out and call home…
(SOT)
“I was born and raised here and I’ve moved away and come back quite a few times and I have lived for extended periods in other places and this is the only place that has ever really felt like home to me so I feel deeply connected to this community and especially to helping the people in it.”
(Track 4)
The library asks for clean gently used costumes for the drive which continues until October 20th…
