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Letter from the Director
2025 was full of big celebrations, expanding access via community partnerships, and sustainability.
The year kicked off with a big musical bash - the first annual Library Gets LOUD! event - welcoming over 3,400 people of all ages to celebrate the joy of music and dancing.
“This is our first time here. I’ve lived in Columbus for 30 years and had no idea this was here. We’ll definitely be back!” shared one visitor with her two kids.
And the celebrations continued all year long with author visits featuring Grady Hendrix (who stayed until 2am signing books and chatting with fans!) and Meg Cabot who helped her fans become royalty for a day.
“As a homebody this [author visit with Grady Hendrix] made me want to leave my house and go out in the world,” shared one attendee.
Other event highlights included a Bluey party, life-sized Candy Land, a dinosaur encounter, and animal visitors including goats, insects, rabbits, chickens, owls, sloths, reptiles, hedgehogs, and more!
Event attendance at the library is 28% higher than in any other year in the past decade and is the highest of 8 other peer libraries of a similar size and budget.
History was also celebrated in 2025 with museum exhibits welcoming 41,319 visitors that highlighted the beloved restaurant Williams Grill, Westerville’s history as the “dry capital of the world”, Ohio voting rights for women, log cabins of Westerville, and Ukrainian culture in Central Ohio.
In addition, history tours highlighted the 150th anniversary of the Whiskey Wars, historic buildings in Uptown Westerville, notable people buried at Otterbein Cemetery, and sites that tell the story of the city’s role in Prohibition.
The 7th annual Wizards & Wands Festival Wizards celebrated gamer universes like Pac-Man and Super Mario Brothers by transforming an entire room of the library into a “mushroom kingdom”. And Doctor Who fans were greeted with a surprise as the time-travelling TARDIS started talking this year! Events throughout the month featured a musical scream-along, a storybook puppet show, a pumpkin parade, a fairytale ball and more.
“Thank you all for opening books, minds, and worlds!” shared Megan M on Facebook. “This year we brought our 7-month grandson so we watched most everything with wonder,” shared a survey respondent.
Strong Community Partnerships Helped Expand Access
Thanks to the help of local organizations and schools, the library was able to expand access to initiatives and services throughout the community.
During the summer, the library partnered with the WARM summer lunch program, The Big Bus, and Neighborhood Bridges, bringing the Summer Reading Challenge and activity kits to kids who might not otherwise be able to participate. This helped keep kids engaged in reading all summer long, bringing the joy of picking out their own books to help strengthen literacy skills.
Another exciting partnership began with installing a Little Free Library at Oak Grove Recovery Center, which helped those recovering from drug addiction reconnect with reading, get job help, and register to vote.
Other successful community partnerships included:
- McVay Elementary students learned how to “drive” robots and practiced parking them at their feet using an iPad during STEM night.
- Ohio Deaf Friends of the Library led storytimes in American Sign Language (ASL) for all ages and abilities.
- Ohio School for the Deaf and Blind students gained work experience while helping staff complete tasks with volunteer opportunities throughout the year.
- Seeds of Caring helped kids build empathy with service projects and opportunities to meet adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
- WeRISE for Greater Westerville encouraged participants to dive into community conversations about identity, illness, and culture with a community-wide book read and author visit with Rajani LaRocca.
In addition, the pickup lockers located Blendon Township Community Senior Center, as well as the lockers located at the Uptown Westerville location, continue to expand, resulting in a 300% increase in usage.
“I absolutely love the new [lockers and return bins] at the senior center! It’s so close to my home, it saved me during the winter months,” shared Donna T.
Focused on Sustainability
One of the library’s strategic initiatives continues to be sustainability, including environmental, fiscal, and social sustainability.
To ensure the library remains fiscally sustainable to allow for continued growth, a staffing audit was conducted that helped identify opportunities to streamline workflows and re-imagine service desks to optimize current staffing and improve the patron experience while continuing to be fiscally responsible.
While library staff continue to advocate for funding at the state level, we also embraced opportunities to reduce costs by evaluating spending. Two significant cost saving projects in 2025 included a change to staff health insurance that reduced costs by 45% and a change to cleaning procedures that reduced costs by $2,000 per month.
Social sustainability remains a priority. Thanks to a grant from the American Heart Association, a blood pressure station was used over 900 times by visitors to take an active role in their health and get referrals for medical assistance near them.
Other projects included:
- Westerville South High School seniors uncovered hard-to-find Black history with the help of the Westerville History Museum archives.
- Visitors received referrals to over 50 different organizations to assist with addiction, counseling, food, healthcare, legal, utilities, and other basic needs.
- Library staff received training on gender neutral language.
- Free printing was implemented for government documents, helping to remove barriers to access to basic services.
- Social stories and signs were designed to help those with autism or sensory sensitivities navigate the library.
Environmental sustainability took center stage with numerous community swaps and donation drives throughout the year, including a prom swap for formal wear, an ongoing plant & seed swap, an ongoing puzzle & game swap, a costume swap, as well as gift wrapping, food, and back-to-school supplies donation drives.
In addition, 291 boxes of books that were withdrawn from the collection were given new life through a partnership with Better World Books, 3,179 pounds of donations were collected for WARM, 31,790 plastic bottles were saved since refillable water fountains were installed in 2023, and countless plastic bottles were saved by switching the vending machines to aluminum cans.
Looking Ahead
In 2026, we are looking forward to expanding access with an upgrade to the front lawn that will maximize the use of space to accommodate consistent growth, including sound buffering, a performance area for library-hosted events, and accessibility features like a step-free entry, widened sidewalks, and illuminated handrails.
In addition, the restrooms on the first floor will be remodeled to include accessibility options, improve hygiene, and bring the aging facilities up to today’s modern standards.
Two projects commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States will launch this spring and summer. The first will be a new exhibit – Public Opinion: Beyond the Headlines in Westerville – inviting visitors to become investigative journalists to uncover the stories behind some of the most gripping headlines and heated debates in Westerville history. The second will be the Westerville Mural Project in partnership with the City of Westerville, Otterbein University, Visit Westerville, Westerville Area Chamber of Commerce, and Westerville Historical Society. Featuring 12 murals installed in highly visible locations, the murals will elevate stories that have historically been overlooked.
We look forward to making new memories with our community in the year ahead.
Erin Francoeur
Executive Director (March 30, 2026)
By the Numbers
