The Friends of the Oakdale Library have been busy beautifying the park area adjoining the library in order to celebrate its grand opening as the Oakdale Library Outdoor Educational Space on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 3 p.m.

Python Ron McGee will bring his favorite lizards and snakes to inform and entertain those attending. The Oakdale community is invited to attend this free event sponsored by the Friends of the Oakdale Library, which will include cake and balloons as well.

“Having this additional outdoor space for the Oakdale Library to utilize for programs and for library customers to enjoy is a dream realized,” said Sharon Arpoika, President of the Friends of the Oakdale Library.

“The idea for acquiring the park was first suggested by Board Member, Rosalie Osman,” Arpoika continued. “It has taken several years to accomplish this goal, but now it’s happening. We thank the Meyer family for their blessing on the idea as they originally donated the park site to the City of Oakdale and we thank the City of Oakdale for partnering with the County to make the site available for library use.”

The Friends recently added a shade structure over the concrete slab, which will make attending programs much more comfortable, replanted the flowerpots and added colorful posts painted by former Oakdale artist, Chloe Fonda that have inspirational sayings encouraging reading. Additionally, the Friends funded the partial removal of the wall, which separated the library patio from the park. Now library customers can gaze out into the outdoor park from inside the library.

“The Friends of the Oakdale Library are happy that they have been able to make this enhancement possible,” added Arpoika.