Yorkville Friends of the Library mini golf event canceled for 2021

The popular Yorkville Public Library Friends of the Library mini golf fundraiser will not be held this year, due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

Friends member Judy Somerlot called the decision “a big disappointment” and said the group had worked with the library to find a way to hold the popular event, but social distancing precautions and space prevented organizers from staging the fundraiser which has traditionally been held in late January.

“We spent a lot of time talking about this because we wanted to find a way to do it, but the library just can’t have that many people in there. There’s a limit to the number,” Somerlot said.

Tee times were a possibility, but after examining the number of touchpoints and sanitization practices, Somerlot said, “The Friends didn’t want to put anybody in that position, and it was just going to be too dangerous.”

“Having to have the golf clubs disinfected, the balls disinfected, that many people touching and going through those places, we just decided that we’d wait and next year it’d be bigger and better,” she added.

Somerlot said that the Friends of the Library are also seeking to hold the annual book sale, another fundraiser for the library, and a staple of Yorkville’s Hometown Days celebrations held Labor Day weekend.

The book sale was canceled in 2020, but the library has recently begun to collect books in the hope of holding the event this year.

“We thought how can we have all those people in there and they’re picking up books and putting them down,” she said. “We just thought that’s not going to happen, so we decided we would just wait.”

The group had thought about holding the sale outside in 2020, Somerlot said, but decided against due to unpredictable weather and the lack of a large enough tent to house the books and patrons.

“It’s just been a real trying time for everybody,” Somerlot said.

Mini golf and the annual book sale are two of the largest fundraising events for the library held by the Friends of the Library.

Even though the 2020 book sale and this year’s mini golf events were canceled, Somerlot said the cancellations should not have a detrimental effect on the library’s finances.

“Those are our big financial moneymakers and we use that money to pay for all of the adult programs, many of the children’s programs, supplies and equipment that we need,” she noted.

But because the library was closed for so long during the early stages of the pandemic, there was not a large dent made in the library’s finances, according to Somerlot.

“We did so well last year that we still have money in our supply. We will use it to fund what they need, as much as we can,” she said.

Somerlot praised the library’s ongoing programs through the COVID-19 pandemic including window art, remote and in-person story time, and other programs for the Yorkville community.

Information on the library’s upcoming programs can be found on the Yorkville Public Library website.