Wood County District Public Library reports rising use, to seek levy renewal and $2 million endowment

Michael Penrod, director of the Wood County District Public Library, told the Board of County Commissioners on April 9 that 2025 was a strong year for the library: total checkouts rose 6.3% to 642,331, more than 36,000 people attended library events and the Bookmobile expanded outreach by locating stops where larger audiences gather (for example, daycares). Penrod said the summer reading program grew about 25% from 2024 to 2025.

Penrod described the library’s revenue and spending for 2025: the State Public Library Fund accounted for $1,933,634 (54.67%) of revenue, the local levy produced $1,187,133 (33.56%), other fees and interest and the Foundation provided the remainder. On expenditures, personnel accounted for $1,892,061 (60.42%) and new materials purchases were $618,291 (19.74%). Penrod said WCDPL generated about $158,000 in interest in 2025 that will be used for capital repairs and that the Foundation’s Novel Night benefit raised over $130,000 to buy books.

Penrod said the WCDPL board expects to approve a resolution at its May meeting requesting that commissioners place a renewal levy on the November 2026 ballot; he described a concurrent Foundation campaign to raise a $2 million endowment to stabilize long-term funding. He noted that state-level changes reduced the share of general revenue devoted to the State Public Library Fund and said local private fundraising has helped the library invest more in print and digital collections than the national average.

Penrod explained that the library purchases many digital licenses rather than permanent copies; licensing terms depend on publishers and, in some cases, the library purchases print when digital license access expires. Commissioners and staff thanked Penrod for the update; no public comment was received.