The beginning of March marks the start of Women’s History Month, and Suffolk Public Library will celebrate the month with a Women’s Fest at the North Suffolk Library.

The festivities will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 17 at the library, 2000 Bennett’s Creek Park Road.

Women’s Fest is meant to be a celebration of women, and the library will accomplish that with multiple resources for the community, a mammography van and speakers for a variety of topics.

“It’s a great way for anybody to celebrate Women’s History Month and also to learn about different resources in the community for them,” said Angie Sumner. “There are a lot of other ways to get involved, and that ties in with our year-long initiative Engage Suffolk.”

The biggest event at the Women’s Fest will be Sentara’s mobile mammography van, which will offer screenings throughout the fest. To utilize the mammography van, attendees should to make an appointment with Sentara by calling 261-5410 and choosing option 1.

Those interested in having a mammogram screening need to check their insurance policy. Typically, women under 40 will not be covered for a mammogram. Other guidelines about the mobile mammogram can be found on Sentara’s website.

While enjoying festivities, patrons will have the opportunity to get information from women’s organizations — Girls on the Run, National Organization for Women, League of Women Voters, All Girls STEM Society and Consortium for Infant and Child Health.

NOW will also be accepting donations for their national “Go with the Flow” campaign. They are accepting donations of menstrual hygiene products — tampons, pads and panty liners. They will also be accepting donations such as toothpaste, shampoos and soaps for the Genieve Shelter.

NOW Hampton Roads’ website has an Amazon Wish List that highlights items they would like to have.

Patrons that donate items to either cause will be entered into a raffle for “exciting prizes,” according to Sumner. The library, as well as vendors at the event, will be donating items for the raffle.

The library will also host three different speakers during the fest covering topics such as history of the Girl Scouts, women in politics, positive self-talk and normalizing breastfeeding. The talks will start at 11:10 a.m.

Attendees will get the chance to see self-defense demonstrations performed by Savior Martial Arts and live entertainment with music from the Storyweavers. Other activities will be available for younger patrons with community art projects.

“I would hope that coming out of the event they would know what’s available to them and make connections to local organizations and other people in Suffolk. I hope they form lasting relationships from this event,” Sumner said.