Thousands expected for EMcon Anime Festival

Thousands of cosplayers (think costume play), actors, artists, authors, musicians and more will crowd the halls — and even the lawn — of the East Meadow Public Library this weekend for one of the facility’s largest events of the year, the EMcon anime fest.

The festival, geared primarily toward teens, is being held for the sixth time at the library, at 1886 Front St. While it started as an afternoon celebration of Japanese culture, EMcon is now a two-and-a-half-day event that focuses on a range of art forms and drew 4,800 people in 2015, organizers said.

Jude Schanzer, the library’s director of public relations and programming, said that Art Director Kelly Gordon pitched the idea of throwing a comic convention to her. Gordon, the author of a graphic novel called “Deadly Sins,” shared his love of anime — a Japanese animation style characterized by colorful graphics, vibrant characters and fantastical themes — with patrons by hosting drawing workshops and starting an Anime Club for teens.

While Gordon, who is now in his mid-30s, said he learned about anime as a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology, he realized he had been watching it for years on television. “It was in a different language, but I didn’t care,” he said. “I just liked the way the illustrations looked."

Gordon quickly discovered that he wasn’t the only one who was passionate about this form of storytelling, as he began to attend large-scale events like New York Comic Con. At the library, he met many patrons who were interested in both anime and manga, a style of Japanese comics /graphic novels.

As the audiences for his art programs and the Anime Club continued to grow — the club now counts 25 teens who meet weekly at the library — Gordon realized that East Meadow needed a place for these creative young people to interact with one another and celebrate the artwork they love. Schanzer agreed, believing that public libraries should have materials and programs that interest everyone.