It’s no surprise that the children of Weatherly were good this year, but the confirmation came Saturday when Santa Claus made a visit to the town’s newly expanded library.

The big guy in the red suit visited Weatherly Area Community Library, which just held its grand opening in the fall, for a Christmas open house. About two dozen children from the Weatherly area visited Santa, had snacks, and checked out books.The new library building, located on Brenkman Drive, makes it possible for the library to hold many different kinds of events that were previously impossible. And it was funded in large part by grants, with a big assist from volunteers.“Since we expanded, now we have room for these activities,” the library’s board president, Suzy Gerhard, said.The library plans to roll out a number of new programs in 2017. They could include story time and opportunities for authors from the greater Carbon County area to share their works.What’s on the library’s wish list this year? Donations. They rely wholly on grants and donations, and volunteer labor. They recently started their annual capital campaign. For more information about the Weatherly Area Community Library, visit them on Facebook, or at

www.weatherlylibrary.org.-Chris Reber