By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Oh, the places you can go by placing a winning bid at Novel Night.
Hosted by the Wood County District Public Library Foundation, the event is a major fundraiser that allows the library to make more books, in all their forms, available to patrons.
Last year, the second in a row when a No-Show Novel Night was held, the fundraiser brought in $111,000.
This year Novel Night will be back as an in-person party, Thursday, July 21 at 5:30 p.m. in the Veterans Building in City Park.
“Tickets are going fast,” Library Director Michael Penrod told the library’s trustees Monday. Tickets for $100, $75 of which is tax deductible,, are still available at wcdpl.org/novel-night-tickets.
Novel Night features food, fellowship, and a chance to bid on items in a live and silent auctions.
The live auction includes a week-long stay in a private residence in northern Tanzania, not far from the shore of Lake Victoria. Or bidders an opt to chill out in the President’s ICE BOX at Slater Area for a Falcon hockey Game.
How about taking to the air with a flight lesson at the Bowling Green Flight Center. Or maybe just tool around town on a pink Susan G. Komen Cruiser bike.
Bidders can dine with BGSU President Rodney Rogers or with Jane Schimpf or the Nader family –a choice of Spanish paella or Lebanese fare. Or just skip to desserts with cookies from Sue Shank. Or meet actor, cook, and author Danny Trejo at a VIP reception before his talk on Oct. 1.
Also, on the block are hand crafted items – a glass bowl by Joel O’Dorisio, a cherrywood table by John Calderonello, a leather purse by Becky McOmber, and quilts by Janice Frisch
“We have a lot of great treasures,” Penrod said. “Please bring your friends and families but most importantly your credit card.”
As exciting as all this may be, what really has Penrod excited is what the proceeds from Novel Night will make possible. “The funds go to buy new books … to respond to local community needs.”
It will mean when a best seller comes out he’ll be able to lease enough copies to keep the holds list to a minimum.
This means having funds to negotiate with publishers so that the One Book BG selection is available as an ebook to all students simultaneously.
This is spending beyond what the library spends from tax dollars – the revenue generate by its local levy and from the state’s Public Library Fund. The library spends 14 percent of its tax revenues on materials, more than the recommended amount. The money raised Thursday will mean even more available to meet the public’s requests.
