Representatives from approximately 40 organizations, as of Wednesday, will be in attendance at the Warwick Public Library on Sept. 28, to speak with new and long-term city residents.

The library’s “Welcome to Warwick” will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the 28th. Participating groups include the Warwick Historical Society, CHILD, Inc., the Pawtuxet Rangers, local Boy Scouts of America troops  and the Alzheimer’s Association of Rhode Island.

Library director Aaron Coutu got the idea of bringing together nonprofits, service organizations and municipal agencies at a New England Library Association conference held just before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic where he learned a community in Massachusetts held such an event.

 “We’re hoping, obviously, for new residents, but we find the city so big that a lot of times people don’t know even if they’ve lived here for a while,” Coutu said. “It’s basically anyone who’s looking to find ways to connect with other people, whether it’s to join a club, to find a place to volunteer, to join a team or just also to get a chance to better understand some of the departments in the city.”

According to Coutu, the event’s timing was chosen so as not to interfere with general library hours and interrupt library attendees who aren’t there for the event. The library will still be open for anyone wanting to check a book out during the event, however.

As for the specific date, once Deputy Director Ellen O’Brien found that Sept. 28 was “National Good Neighbor Day,” she and Coutu agreed that was the perfect date.

“It’s the beginning of a new season,” O’Brien said. “People are getting back to school and their hobbies. So it just worked.”

Planning for the event, according to Coutu, has been relatively smooth thus far. This has been in large part due to the experience of planning for past events that the library has held, such as a vendor fair held this past summer.

During the event, booths will be placed throughout the building. They will also be positioned so that similar organizations will be placed together, in order for residents interested in specific topics to find groups faster.

Coutu said that a big benefit for attendees will be the chance to meet city department personnel and other organizations that could help city help them at a time..

“Most of the time, if you’re running into a department, it’s because something went wrong,” Coutu said. “So you’re not always starting with the most positive experience. Whereas here, they’ll get a chance to meet staff in that department, get to know that department in a better way, to make it a positive experience.”

O’Brien hopes to see upwards of 200 people in attendance. Coutu would like to see “Welcome to Warwick” become an annual event.

“This community is very welcoming, but at the same time, it’s very wide and to some degree, there’s a separation between the villages,” Coutu said. “People don’t necessarily know what’s on the other end of the city; they’re more focused on the part of the city that they know. So we want to give them an opportunity to make those connections.”