In 2002, the Daniel Boone Regional Library partnered with the Kansas City Metropolitan Library and Information Network to offer the first One Read program in Boone and Callaway Counties. That year, the community voted to read “Plainsong” by Kent Haruf. DBRL librarians Doyne McKenzie and Sally Abromovich served as the One Read co-chairs with the support of DBRL director Melissa Carr and many members of the community.

We’re celebrating 20 years of One Read this year, and we wanted to reflect on how it all began, so we got in touch with a couple of the people who were instrumental in getting One Read up and running. Melissa Carr, former DBRL director, and librarian Sally Abromovich, one of the original One Read co-chairs, both shared their remembrances. Librarian Doyne McKenzie also helped establish One Read and served as co-chair.

For 20 years, adult community members in Boone and Callaway Counties have read the same book as part of Daniel Boone Regional Library’s One Read program. To encourage children to discover the joy of reading at an early age, the library is launching a new incentivized reading program for children birth-age 5 during One Read.

Khaki Westerfield and her family have a multi-generational relationship with the library and with Boone County. Both Khaki’s grandfather and father served on the Columbia Public Library board before her, and her parents, her sister, her husband, her children and she herself were all Hickman Kewpies. Professionally, she taught English at Hickman High School and worked through the University of Missouri with undergraduate education students, first-year teachers and their mentor teachers across the state.

Do you proudly display your kiddo’s art on your fridge? Kids love to create using crayons, paint, boxes, feathers, acorns — whatever is on hand. Their explorations are fun, entertaining, educational and fridge-worthy.

As parents and teachers, we want to encourage a child’s interest and love for creating art and crafts not just because it’s lovely to see, but also because it helps their development.

We are halfway through a year in which we hoped we would see a full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re not quite there yet, but I’m happy to say that the Daniel Boone Regional Library is working to restore services to some semblance of normalcy.

Congratulations to the “pawsome” winners of the 2021 Pet Photo Contest! The winners and their humans received gift cards to local bookstores. See the creative and adorable winning photographs here.

In July, the Daniel Boone Regional Library added a new Missouri Bicentennial Collection to its Community History Archive. The library digitized several books from its reference collection that are important documents related to the history of Boone and Callaway Counties.

Inspired by this year’s One Read book “Furious Hours,” we invite Mid-Missouri artists ages 16 and older to contribute works that explore the experience of careful observation, investigation or the revelation of something previously unknown.

The exhibit will take place September 1-24 and can be viewed in person at the September 3 First Friday reception or virtually at orrstreetstudios.com.