Endowments

Dottie Yeck Endowments

Dottie Yeck served as a member of the Washington-Centerville Public Library Board of Trustees for 28 years.

Through Mrs. Yeck's efforts, public library service was offered during the summer of 1972 at Dr. John Hole School. Under her guide, the North Branch Library was established in the Washington Square Center from 1975-1979 and to meet the needs of the growing community, Woodbourne Library was designed, constructed, and opened to the public in 1980, with an addition designed and opened in 1985.

Mrs. Yeck was a life-long supporter of libraries, a proponent of reading, and an advocate of library services for children. She also donated the "Storytime" sculpture at Woodbourne Library.

This endowment funds a writing contest that encourages teens in Montgomery County to share their plan for how to live a life that is fun, purposeful, and happy, and honor Dottie Yeck and her formula for living:

Being Good + Doing Good = Having Fun + Being Happy.

The winner of the Good Life Award Contest receives $3000.

This endowment helps position Woodbourne Library as a focal point within the community by offering artistic experiences for Library patrons.

The endowment generates annual revenue which is used to fund arts-related events.

As part of the Woodbourne Library expansion and renovation, a citizen committee led by Library trustees invited artists with ties to the Miami Valley to propose newly created artworks, of any medium, that reflect the communities of Centerville/Washington Township and the Modernist tradition of the building. This project, named Art Speaks Volumes, resulted in four original works of art installed at Woodbourne Library.

This travelling exhibit featuring artifacts, digital reproductions of original Peanuts strips and interactives took a light-hearted look at the natural world. The exhibit was organized by the Charles M. Schulz Museum.

Six oversized, brighly colored banners suspend from the Centerville Library to help patrons locate key library points.

Bright colors, whimsical elements and interactivity were added to the children’s rooms of the Centerville Library and Woodbourne Library in 2010, in conjunction with the Library’s 200th anniversary celebration.

Dovetailing into the Library's Book of Kells program series, two artists took up residence at the Centerville Library and the Woodbourne Library. Artist Hilary Neu demonstrated the intricate art of calligraphy, while Jeffrey James sculpted a beautiful Celtic knotwork design into clay.

Under the direction of Washington Township's Town Hall Theatre Education Coordinator, Rayya El Zein, a dozen teens produced a staged adaptation of Debra Lattimore's children's book, The Sailor Who Captured the Sea.

88 iconographic banners hanging in the nonfiction sections to visually depict the subject matter of materials located near them. The icons and banners were created by graphic designers Amanda Romero and Kyle Fisk.

More than 400 citizens celebrated 195 years of library service in Centerville and Washington Township with music, an art competition, history displays and public tours of the Library's Cataloging Center.

Woodbourne Library gets an "extreme makeover" as aged shrubbery is replaced with 40 different kinds of shrubs in an "artistic" variety of colors, shapes and sizes.

Five men, three ethnic backgrounds, and one impressive sound drew people from all over the community for a public concert complete with on-site swing dancing instruction.

Bing Davis, one of America's premier African-American artists, led kids and adults to "interact with art" as they made jewelry and other adornment from objects found in everyday life.

More than 150 children and teens had an "artful" experience during the week-long drawing and writing workshop presented by nationally-renowned author and illustrator Peter Catalanotto.