Where's Dover the Bicentennial Bear?
Hey kids (of all ages), "Dover" the wandering Bicentennial Bear from the Westlake Historical Society is out visiting more interesting and historical places this month.
This month, Dover decided to visit the Westlake Porter Public Library, located at 27333 Center Ridge Road.
Dover loves to visit the Westlake Porter Public Library because everyone is friendly and willing to help him. He especially likes the children's area where they have chairs that are just his size.
Dover asked the friendly Librarian why it is called Porter Library. He was told that one of the early settlers in Dover Township (now known as Westlake) was a man named Leonard G. Porter. Mr. Porter, who was born in 1806, liked to read and so he donated $1,000 and all of his personal books to begin a library in Dover when he died in 1884.
In 1935, a member of another early Dover family, Sophronia Clague, donated $10,000 to the library in her will. She was a school teacher and also loved to read.
Dover also learned that over 1.4 million items were checked out from the library in 2010. Also, almost 487,000 people now visit the library every year. The youth department had over 49,000 items checked out in 2010.
But most of all, Dover likes to go to Porter Library because it's FUN!