From the Director, Fall 2023

We had a fantastic summer at the library. With our Summer Reading Program’s All Together Now theme, we were busy hosting programs for patrons of all ages, celebrating successes like the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten graduates, and raising money for more library materials during our annual Novel Night Benefit.

We had over 1,300 participate in our Summer Reading Program this summer. Our focus was on community and collaboration– both of which are core values of the library– with plenty of programs, opportunities, and fun for families. We are grateful for the many organizations and businesses that helped support our Summer Reading Program, and to the over 70 teens who volunteered their time to make this summer a success. Though summer reading has ended, we continue to work all together in the library and around our community.

Over the summer, there were plenty of opportunities for families with young children to engage with books. Our Royal Readers in the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Reading Challenge were celebrated over the summer with a fun and engaging concert with Jim Gill. We also were proud to host author and illustrator Will Hillenbrand in partnership with the Wood County Fair, the Bowling Green VFW, and the WCDPL Friends of the Library to hand out 200 books to families who visited our fair booth. As we continue to celebrate our new graduates every year, I invite you to engage with early literacy opportunities like the 1000 Books program and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. With your help, we put more books into the hands of our youngest readers.

Our annual Novel Night Benefit was a humbling experience as we raised over $141,000. With the support of event sponsors, ticket buyers, in-kind item donors, and bidders for the live and silent auctions, all of these funds raised will go toward the purchase of more new library materials in 2024. It is through your generosity that we are able to keep such a diverse, up-to-date collection of books for every age and interest. Thank you.

As we say goodbye to summer, we are excited to welcome Sesame Street’s “Maria,” Sonia Manzano, to Bowling Green in October. Growing up, I watched Sonia on Sesame Street, and I am thrilled to have such an engaging, inspiring author join us to speak about her upbringing in the South Bronx and her rise to stardom as Maria.

We hope that as the weather turns colder, you will join us at the library for an event, to pick up a new reading suggestion, to utilize one of our resources, or just to browse our expansive collection. 

See you at the library,

Michael Penrod
WCDPL Director

September 2023