Two Days, One Building, a Full Range of Neighbors
The last week of October has a way of concentrating things in a small city. Schools are counting down to Halloween, parents are sorting out costumes, and older residents are looking for something to do that does not involve crowds at a regional mall. The Anna Community Library at 111 W. 5th St. is quietly answering all of those needs at once, hosting two distinct events on consecutive days that together tell you something real about how the library functions in this community — not just as a place to borrow books, but as a standing room where Anna residents of every age actually show up.
On Wednesday, October 28, the library’s Adults 50+ Crafting Corner runs from 10:00 to 11:30 in the morning. The project this month is embroidery hoop pumpkins — seasonal decorations made from embroidery hoops and festive fabric, with all supplies and instruction included. No prior embroidery experience is expected or required. The format is straightforward: participants arrive, get what they need, follow along with guidance, and leave with something they made themselves. That simplicity is part of the appeal. For seniors in Anna who want a creative outlet without the overhead of sourcing their own materials or watching tutorial videos alone at home, the Crafting Corner delivers a finished product and a room full of people working toward the same thing.
The 50+ series has been running long enough that regulars know to show up a few minutes early. Seats fill, and the window is only ninety minutes. The embroidery hoop pumpkin is a tactile project — wrapping and gathering fabric, working with a hoop that gives you something to hang afterward — which makes it a good fit for a group setting where conversation happens naturally alongside the work.
Halloween Comes to the Library and City Hall
The following day, Thursday, October 30, the library becomes one half of a larger free family event called Haunt the Halls. Running from 2:30 to 4:30 in the afternoon, the event spreads across both the Anna Community Library and City Hall, with city departments and local nonprofit organizations setting up to hand out treats to anyone who comes through.
The structure of Haunt the Halls is deliberately low-key. There are no ticketing requirements, no registration forms, and no cost. Families walk the space, stop at tables staffed by city employees and community organizations, collect treats, and move on. For young children, that frictionless format matters — it keeps the focus on the fun without the logistics that can make a ticketed event feel like an errand.
What makes the event specific to Anna is the participation of city departments themselves. When the people handing out candy are the same staff members who process permits, staff the library desk, and answer the phones at City Hall, the event does something useful beyond the Halloween theming: it puts faces to functions. Kids who walk through Haunt the Halls in 2026 are the residents who will be interacting with those same departments for decades. Starting that relationship over a bowl of candy at a library table is a reasonable beginning.
The nonprofit presence adds another layer. Anna has a growing number of community organizations working across youth programming, food access, and civic engagement. A free family event gives those groups a room with foot traffic and a reason for residents to stop and learn what they do.
A Library That Earns Its Square Footage
These two events arriving back to back are not a coincidence of scheduling. They reflect a consistent programming philosophy at the Anna Community Library — that the building should be active across age groups and across the calendar, not just during summer reading season or school breaks.
The Adults 50+ Crafting Corner runs monthly, rotating through different projects that give seniors a reason to come back. The Halloween event is annual. Together they represent the library doing what a branch in a growing city needs to do: serve the longtime residents who have been here for years alongside the families arriving in new subdivisions, without treating either group as an afterthought.
Anna’s population has expanded quickly over the past several years, and with that growth comes pressure on every public institution to scale its programming without losing the community feel that made the city worth moving to in the first place. A library that can run a senior craft morning and a family Halloween afternoon in the same week, in the same building, with city staff and local nonprofits in the room, is one that is managing that balance.
Plan Ahead for Both
The Adults 50+ Crafting Corner on October 28 runs 10:00 to 11:30 AM with all supplies provided — arrive close to the start time to secure a spot. Haunt the Halls on October 30 runs 2:30 to 4:30 PM across City Hall and the Anna Community Library at 111 W. 5th St., with free entry and no registration needed.
Both events are confirmed on the city calendar at the Anna Community Library page, which also lists what else is coming through November for residents looking to plan further out.
