Although books may be a well-known commodity offered at libraries, one local library staff in particular is going a step further to connect the community.

Highland Community Library director Ashlee Kiel said that they are bringing new features and hosting exciting events at the library throughout the year.

The Richland Township area library is along Schoolhouse Drive.

A seed feature is to be started in the spring, throughout which patrons can choose seeds from a collection to take home and plant in their gardens. 

“We’re starting a community garden in conjunction with the Master Gardeners that will be on our property,” Kiel said.

According to Kiel, from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 22, library staff are to host an Oscars preview party in which the film nominees will be previewed.

“We’ll have hors d’oeuvres and trivia, and participants can enter their predictions for a chance to win movie passes to Richland Cinemas,” Kiel said.

In addition, a Marvel Mondays Movie Night is hosted each month.

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” is to be shown from 6 to 8 p.m Feb. 11.

“Each month, we show a movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in order of release. People are welcome to come and watch them on the projector screen,” Kiel said.

The Highland Community Library staff also is to host a community game night from 6 to 11 p.m. Feb. 23. The evening will consist of both classic and new tabletop games.

“We will also have volunteers running role-playing games, and we usually order pizza,” Kiel said.

The Highland Community Library offers a circulating board-game collection as part of their Library of Things, where anyone with a library card can take games home to play for a week at a time.

 “We have games like “Ticket to Ride”, “Pandemic”, “Catan”, and more. We also have ukuleles available to check out,” Kiel said.

Maria MLick of Johnstown has participated in the events for the past few years.

“The staff is excellent. The events are family-friendly, and my children always have a blast, especially at the movie nights,” MLick said. 

Each event is open to the public and free to attend at Highland Community Library.

“I would love to see more Pitt-Johnstown students come visit and get library cards, especially since we’re so close by,” Kiel said.