The library had a “fangtastic” time on Halloween during fifth and sixth period. Fruit bats from the organization, Flying Fox Conservation Fund, came in to visit the students. They brought in multiple different types of fruit bats for students to touch and learn about.

This event is something the library has never offered to students before. Librarian Victoria Pietrus was the one who planned the whole event from finding the right organization to setting up the dates.

“All I had to do in terms of planning was contact the organization. I got in touch with the founder of Flying Fox Conservation Fun, Scott Heinrichs and we discussed our desired time and date. I came up with the idea from seeing their presentation at another public library, so I wanted the students at West to experience that as well,” Pietrus said.

To start the event, the students first listened to a presentation by Heinrichs. Heinrichs let the students know what the Flying Fox Conservation Fund is and what they do for their bats.

“Flying Fox Conservation Fund is a not-for-profit organization. We mainly try to raise money to help educate the people of Indonesia on the importance of bats. We also donate to Australian bat rescue centers that rehab injured bats. With the funding that we have gained, we donate to organizations that rehab and release wildlife from the bushmeat trade,” Heinrichs said.

Heinrichs shared a lot of information about bats with the students that they may have never known. The information varied from all the different types of bats, down to what they eat. Freshman Zair Martin shares what he learned from the presentation.

“I learned that some bats come out in the day and not all of them are nocturnal. Some bats also feed off of nectar and pollinate most of our trees. Also, their poop is used for fertilizer, which can bring back a whole forest by devastation from humans,” Martin said.

As the presentation began to wrap up, Heinrichs started to bring out three different types of fruit bats. He walked around letting the students touch the bat and take pictures.

“I loved seeing the bats in the library. They were so soft and furry,” Martin said.

If you didn’t get to see the fruit bats this Halloween, don’t worry, the library is hoping to have another animal come in for Earth Day, so make sure you keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming event!