Westerville, OH – In 2004, the Westerville Public Library launched a daily delivery service to Westerville schools. Since then, a total of 343,313 items have been delivered to students, teachers, and staff – an average of 94 items per delivery day.
“When I hear of a title or need a book, I can quickly order it from the app on my phone. And like magic, it is in my hands a few days later...” says Kate Mantenieks, a teacher at Wilder Elementary. “It is also so easy to return books; I no longer have another errand to run. The Westerville Public Library makes loving books and pairing kids with good books effortless! It feels good that the Westerville Public Library has my back as a teacher.”
School deliveries provide convenient and dependable access to the library’s collection despite time or transportation challenges students and families may face. This is an invaluable way to service the community, as research has shown that children who have library cards and use the library perform better in school.
“It is such a blessing to our families that don’t have a vehicle…It really evens the field so that all our families have access to books!” shares Lisa Reschke, Clerk 2 at Cherrington Elementary School.
“When I was a student at Westerville schools in the 1990s, I was a voracious reader. Reading was my escape and a great comfort during times of stress. But I didn’t have an easy or reliable way to get to the library to borrow and return books. I would have been over-the-moon excited to have a daily delivery service like this (especially to feed my love of The Baby-Sitters Club series),” shares Tamara Murray, Marketing Manager.
Library staff have delivered to 28 buildings in the past 20 years, logging over 109,200 miles on the road. This achievement was made possible in part by the Friends of the Westerville Public Library whose volunteers raised money by hosting used book sales and running a small gift shop to purchase two vans in 2004 and again in 2014.
In recent years, the service has been especially popular at Wilder and Cherrington Elementary Schools, Walnut Springs Middle School, and Westerville South High School.
“Last year I had a student in my fifth-grade class who had a huge interest in history,” says Mantenieks. “He had exhausted the school library history collection. So, every week during library time, he would pull out his library card and easily have a book sent over from the Westerville Public Library. He would light up when his giant new books of history would arrive and share his new knowledge with his friends in the cafeteria. These books kept him interested and extended his social studies expertise.”
In 2021, the library expanded access further by putting a library card in the hand of every child at every school by partnering with Westerville City Schools. So far, 18,122 library cards have been issued to students.
The service will be even more irresistible when the library gains access to 3.9 million additional items by joining the Central Library Consortium in late 2024, connecting to library collections from 17 neighboring libraries through Central Ohio, including the Columbus Metropolitan Library and Worthington Libraries.
“I love bringing students and staff their favorite library materials daily! WCS [Westerville City Schools] is an amazing community, and I appreciate getting to chip in on the awesome work they do every day,” says Jon B, Library Associate.
Borrow to Win!
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of school deliveries, the library will be hosting a prize drawing every month for a $20 gift card and swag bag from September 2024 through May 2025. Students, teachers & staff - for every item you request for delivery, you'll receive one chance to win that month's prize drawing.
For more information about these services, visit westervillelibrary.org/schools and westervillelibrary.org/school-card.
