On Monday, at the 2024 Peep Show at Bud Werner Memorial Library, longtime Steamboat Springs resident Lisa Williams chuckled and smiled as she strolled through Library Hall looking at more than 60 dioramas. 

“I come here every year because it just makes me happy,” Williams said. “It makes me laugh most of the time, and I figure I need a good laugh every now and then.”

The dioramas are split into three groups: children (12-and-under), teenagers (13-17) and adults. There is also an entry for groups this year. The dioramas are decided on by those entering, but most are related to the tales and stories that can be found on the shelves at the Bud Werner Memorial Library.

---

---

“It’s so fun because we have everything from Alice in Wonderland, you know the classics, to Shrek — which of course is a movie, but it’s been turned into so many different books,” said Kaya Boyle, assistant children’s librarian. “I think it’s just really cool to see how many generations are getting involved in this and what they are coming up with.”

The event has grown into one of the most popular at the library, drawing visitors throughout the week, and plenty of entries each year. Last year, the event drew 84 entries. That number is down slightly, but Boyle said there is a reason for the decline.  

---

---

“At the middle school, the art teacher usually has all his students do one, but this year they grouped up,” she said. “They created really fun group projects, and it’s cool that the art teacher gets the entire school involved.”

This year’s dioramas are all centered around Peeps, a marshmallow confection marketed since 1953 in the United States and Canada in the shape of chicks, bunnies and other animals. In this case, the Peeps are used to create the dioramas that are inspired by media ranging from classic to modern literature, television and movies, and even video games.

The display reflects classic tales from the “Box-Car Children,” a children’s book series originally created and written by the American first-grade schoolteacher Gertrude Chandler Warner. The magical stories from British author J. K. Rowling, who created the Harry Potter series, were also displayed.

There are dioramas inspired by Snoopy’s battle with the Red Baron as told by and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz in “Peanuts,” as well as Scooby-Doo and his meddling pals, just to name a few.

Monday was the first day for the show, which runs during regular hours through Saturday. The library is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and again from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, the final day of the show. Visitors are encouraged to vote for the Peep-le’s Choice Awards.

“Literacy is more complicated than just written word,” said librarian Amy Wilson. “Literacy is a process of understanding and thinking about what you’ve read. The imagination piece is what you feel and what’s in your head when you’re reading something.”