When the Library Runs Out of Room, It Finds More
There is a particular kind of problem that a community library is happy to have: too many people who want to show up. The Celina Public Library is navigating exactly that situation this fall, stretching its programming calendar into borrowed space while a brand-new 26,209-square-foot facility takes shape around the corner at 112 N. Colorado St.
For now, the library’s current home at 142 N. Ohio St. remains the hub of day-to-day operations, but two programs scheduled for October 27 tell a clear story about where things stand. Both the “Build a Catapult” STEM session and the Corn Husk Hullabaloo craft program have been moved to the City Council Chambers building, a larger venue that can actually hold everyone who wants a seat at the table — or, in this case, a spot at the workbench.
Building Something With Your Hands
The catapult session runs from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on October 27 at the City Council Chambers building. The premise is straightforward and the appeal is immediate: kids design and build a working catapult, applying principles of physics and engineering in the kind of tactile, low-stakes environment that classroom settings rarely replicate. The program is part of the library’s broader STEM initiative, and the decision to relocate it reflects how consistently those sessions have filled past venues beyond comfortable capacity.
The fact that a public library in Celina is running out of room for hands-on science programs is not a complaint. It is a data point. The city’s population has grown at a pace that has repeatedly surprised even optimistic projections, and the library’s program attendance mirrors that growth in real time. When you have to find a bigger building to hold your STEM night, the programming is working.
Corn Husks and Community
Running alongside the catapult build on the same October 27 evening is the Corn Husk Hullabaloo, a craft program that leans into the season without requiring any particular skill level to enjoy. Families bring curiosity; the library provides the materials and the instruction. The City Council Chambers space allows both programs to run concurrently without one crowd spilling into the other — a logistical reality that, again, would have been unnecessary if demand had not grown the way it has.
These are the kinds of programs that do not make headlines on their own but accumulate into something that defines the character of a place. A town where the library’s craft night requires overflow space is a town where people are engaged with their community in the most fundamental sense.
The Pumpkin Painting Party Comes First
Before the October 27 programs, the Friends of the Library are hosting a Pumpkin Painting Party at the current library branch on October 21, running from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. The event is described as a perennial fall favorite that regularly fills the space to capacity — which, at this point, reads less like a marketing phrase and more like a structural observation.
The Friends of the Library have long served as the connective tissue between the institution and the broader community, organizing events that draw people in who might not otherwise think of the library as a destination. The pumpkin painting event is a reliable example of that function: it is accessible, seasonal, and draws families who then notice the STEM flyers on the bulletin board and sign up for the catapult session the following week.
What the New Building Means for All of This
The city is targeting a winter 2026 opening for the new library at 112 N. Colorado St., and the timing carries weight beyond simple square footage. Celina is marking its 150th anniversary as a city throughout 2026, and the new library is widely understood to represent the institutional infrastructure of the next chapter rather than just an upgrade to the current one.
At 26,209 square feet, the new facility will not need to send its STEM programs to the City Council Chambers. It will not need to apologize for running out of room at the pumpkin painting party. It will be able to hold the community it actually serves, rather than the smaller community it was built for years ago.
That context makes the current season of programming feel like a kind of finale for one era and a preview of another. The catapult builders and corn husk crafters showing up on October 27 are doing so in a temporary arrangement that will not exist by this time next year. There is something worth noticing in that — a community finding creative ways to serve its residents in the gap between what it has and what it is building.
Showing Up
For families in Celina looking to fill the weeks between now and the holiday stretch, the library’s fall lineup offers a sequence of low-cost, high-engagement options spread across downtown. The pumpkin painting on October 21 at 142 N. Ohio St. and the dual-program evening on October 27 at the City Council Chambers building are free to attend and require nothing more than the willingness to make something.
The Celina Public Library has its programming details available through the city’s library page, and given how quickly these events have been filling in recent seasons, showing up early is the most reliable strategy.
