New adventures across Greene County

I confess, I love every part of my job here at Greene County Public Library. That said, some days really stand out as special – and serve as a reminder of how fortunate I am to be entrusted to serve the public good.

Adventure Inside!

This past Saturday was one of those days as we gathered at Fairborn Community Library to dedicate our new Bookmobile. The Bookmobile serves Greene County children to the tune of approximately 5,000 per month. After more than 20 years in service, we needed to retire our existing bookmobile (which was affectionately named Bertha) and replaced it with an amazing new bus, replete with an ADA compliant chair lift, the latest in safety features, and plenty of room for the books our children love. We’ve already dubbed the new bookmobile Dolly, in honor of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

From the Imagination Library to the Bookmobile to 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten and the dozens of weekly programs focused on pre- and early literacy, your Library continues its mission to Create Young Readers!

Support and Good Will

We were so grateful to have over 450 people at the event — it was a real community celebration! We were honored to have several Greene County and Statewide community leaders join us at this celebration who I want to recognize here for their ongoing support of Greene County’s children.

Here they are helping us cut the ribbon for Dolly, sending us on our way to spark the imagination of children across the county.

We were delighted to welcome State Librarian of Ohio Wendy Knapp who spent the morning with us. The stars of the show were our Greene County Public Library Team who serve you each day, including Kim Bautz, Youth Services Coordinator; Stacy Westfall, Bookmobile Manager; Cameron Chaney, Bookmobile Clerk; Christi Cox, Community Engagement Officer; Evan Scott, Community Information Coordinator; and Paige Cobos, Content Marketing Specialist.

From Fairborn Community Library, special thanks go to Head Librarian Jessica Winegarner along with members of her staff: Serene Lawrence, Kristie Miller, Abby Lionberger, Matt Lawson, Nancy Shuttleworth, Tracy Marks, Celise McKee, Caitlin Wichterman, Jen Blair, and Bill Puncer. And, from our volunteers with the Friends of the Fairborn Library: Nawal, Andy, Donna, Cora, Connie, Rebecca, and Jordan. Finally, staff librarian Abby Conner who entertained the crowd as Booker T. Fox.

Greene County Public Library is dedicated to bringing the best possible services to the citizens of Greene County anywhere in Greene County and beyond. Having our community and its leaders come to celebrate that with us inspires us to do more.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Karl Colón
Executive Director
Greene County Public Library