SIDNEY — The Sidney Memorial Public Library welcomed Allison Collins to its staff as a library assistant in September.

Collins is a longtime writer, journalist and editor who joined the library’s Youth Services staff. She will plan and implement after-school and special programming for students in grades 5 through 12, as well as oversee the library’s Young Adult section.

Collins has several special events and displays planned for Banned Books Week, Oct. 4-10.

Throughout October, the children’s and Young Adult sections will host a “Save the Story!” scavenger hunt, inviting kids to explore the stacks to find hidden but well-known characters from banned or challenged books. Participants can present completed checklists at the circulation desk for a prize.

Also ongoing will be “Guess the Banned Book,” a mason jar guessing game featuring the partially obscured covers of three well-known books from the children’s, middle-grade and Young Adult genres. The winner of each category will receive the corresponding banned or challenged book.

Banned Books Week and the importance of creative freedom will also be part of the library’s regularly scheduled after-school youth programming. In advance of Banned Books Week, attendees of the Thursday, Oct. 1, Creations Lab, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. downstairs in the library, will make Banned Books Week trading cards. Kids will discuss recognizable banned or challenged books and why they were challenged, then redesign covers and book “stats” on tradeable cards.

The traveling exhibit “Two Hundred Years on the Erie Canal” will be on display at Sidney Memorial Public Library this month. The exhibit is made up of four vinyl banners featuring historic photographs and local stories and was created to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the groundbreaking of the canal.

It was funded by a 2016 Action Grant from Humanities New York to the regional library councils and is available for libraries to borrow and host. The exhibit curator was Dan Ward, former curator of the Erie Canal Museum and current chair of the Canal Society of New York State.

Erie Canal Museum Deputy Director Derrick Pratt will present “Revolutionary Waterway: The Erie Canal & The American Revolution” at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, in the Smart Community Room. He will examine how the Revolution shaped the people, places and ideas that ultimately created the influential public work.

The library will also host a reception and art exhibition for “Making Merit” by artist Roshan Houshmand from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3.

Houshmand is an Iranian-American artist and educator whose multicultural background deeply informs her work. Born in 1961 in the Philippines, she was raised there and in Iran until 1976 and later moved to the United States in 1978. Her heritage blends Dutch-American maternal and Iranian paternal roots, and her art draws on ancient patterns, textures and spiritual traditions.

Her work blends cultural traditions, spirituality and ancient patterns with contemporary artistic expression. The exhibition will be on view through Oct. 24. Patrons are invited to meet the artist and experience her work in person.

Houshmand will also offer a two-part workshop, “Making Merit: Tibetan Buddhist Art Lecture, Drawing & Painting.” The workshops will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, and noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17. Registration is required, and participants must commit to attending both sessions. Call the Sidney Memorial Public Library to register and reserve a spot.

The Sidney Memorial Public Library will also participate in The Great Give Back by supporting the Delaware Valley Humane Society. The library will collect donations of cleaning supplies, dog and cat food and toys to support animals at the shelter.

For information about library programs and special events, visit sidneylibrary.org or the Sidney Memorial Public Library Facebook page.

— Information from Sidney Memorial Public Library