Cedar Falls Library Brings Back the Magic of Having a Pen Pal
CEDAR FALLS, IOWA ~ Once upon a time, one of the best things that could happen to a kid was finding an envelope in the mailbox with their own name written across the front.
Not Mom’s name.
Not Dad’s name.
Yours.
You’d carry it inside, turn it over, tear open the envelope and unfold a letter written by someone who had taken the time to sit down with a pencil or pen and write something meant especially for you.
And if you were lucky?
There might even be a P.S. at the bottom.
Long before texts could be delivered in a second, before emojis could say everything from I’m laughing to I’m mad at you, and before anybody knew whether you’d read their message at 2:37 p.m. and hadn’t answered yet, there were pen pals.
And some kids in Cedar Falls are about to discover that the old-fashioned way of keeping in touch still has a little magic left in it.
The Cedar Falls Public Library is launching a new three-month Youth Pen Pals program for children ages 8 through 12.
It actually started with a little snail mail.
On August 7, the library hosted a Snail Mail Social, where youngsters could discover the world of letter writing, learn how to write and send a letter, and hear about the new pen-pal program coming in the fall.
Then came the matchmaking.
Beginning August 14, interested children could stop by the Youth Desk and complete what the library called a friend match-making form.
Library staff would use those forms to pair youngsters with their new writing buddies.
No swiping right required.
Just librarians. ❤️
Registration closed September 4, and now the envelopes, pencils and new friendships are ready for the next chapter.
On Monday, September 14, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., the library will hold its Pen Pals: Pair~Up Party!
That’s when the youngsters who registered and were matched through the program will have an opportunity to meet their new pen pals.
The children will learn how the three-month program works, what is expected as they exchange letters and how to write back and forth with their new buddies.
And they’ll leave with something pretty fitting for the occasion:
a letter-writing starter kit.
Then begins the snail-mail journey.
There is something wonderfully simple about that.
Today’s children are growing up in a world where communication can happen almost instantly. A message can travel across town~or across the world~before somebody has even put the phone back in a pocket.
A handwritten letter asks something different of us.
You have to think about what you want to say.
You have to write it down.
You might erase something.
You might doodle in the corner.
You might decide your friend absolutely needs to know one more thing after you’ve already signed your name, requiring that all-important:
P.S.
And then comes something generations before today’s youngsters knew very well.
You have to wait.
Wait for the letter to be delivered.
Wait for your pen pal to read it.
Wait for them to write back.
And then, one ordinary day, there it is.
An envelope.
With your name on it.
Maybe that’s part of what makes the Cedar Falls program so sweet.
The children aren’t simply learning how to address an envelope or compose a letter. They’re getting an opportunity to experience a slower, more deliberate way of communicating ~ and perhaps make a new friend along the way.
The library isn’t finished with snail mail after the September pairing party, either.
On October 5, children ages 7~12 will be invited to another library program where they can decorate their own postcards as the library continues exploring what it calls the “wonderful world of snail mail.”
Apparently, snail mail isn’t quite ready for the history books after all.
Somewhere in Cedar Falls very soon, a child may sit down with a piece of paper and wonder:
What do I say?
And somewhere else, another child may eventually open a mailbox and discover something addressed especially to them.
No notification.
No screen.
No “seen at 2:37.”
Just an envelope, a letter~
and maybe, if they’re lucky,
a P.S. at the bottom.
Sometimes the old ways still have something pretty wonderful to say.
Deliverance Hope ~Word ’Round Town
Keep Goin’ ‘Round Town
There’s always another story waiting just around the corner.