1Book BG is back this fall with more free books and an author visit.

Held in the spring since its inception in 2015, the program earlier this year focused on science, space and biographies to tie in with the solar eclipse.

“Now it’s time to start looking ahead to this year,” said Stacey Higgins at Wednesday’s Bowling Green Schools’ board of education meeting.

She and Michelle N. Thomas, who are both teachers at Crim Elementary, took over 1Book BG in 2022, Higgins said.

The program is for all of the city’s public and parochial school students in grades K-5.

The Wood County District Public Library invited author-illustrator Jarrett Lerner to visit and Maria Simon, youth services coordinator, approached her to ask whether a fall 1Book BG was possible, Higgins said.

On Oct. 8, Lerner will present an evening program at the library and on Oct. 9 visit five buildings to meet with more than 1,400 students in grades K-5.

Lerner is known for engaging visits with a goal of working with kids to not only impress upon them what he can do but leave them with the impression of what they can do, according to information provided at the meeting.

Books from his “Geeger the Robot” series will be given to K-2 grades. Set up like chapter books with lots of illustrations, the should be very accessible “and probably the most accessible that we’ve had for our primary grades in years,” Higgins said.

Third grades will be receiving “Scare School Diaries” books while grades 4-5 will be getting books from the “EngiNerds” series, with which they are already familiar, she said.

The schools are also will collaborate with the BG Schools Foundation’s “25 Acts of Service” program, the Brown Bag Project and the BG Christian Food Pantry.

Featuring Lerner’s series “The Hungry Heroes,” the schools will conduct a food drive to encourage students to be “hungry heroes,” Higgins said.

Businesses can participate by offering “grab and go” activities, Thomas said, that will come with the message it doesn’t matter where you are, you are an author.

“As a mom, I know the mission sites are a lot of fun. Kids love going into the local businesses, supporting them, and getting to see what is in those businesses,” Thomas said.

Higgins said she hopes to make 1Book BG a family event by getting participation at the mission sites and the library visit.

“We want them to share their own excitement,” she said about parents.

They will be asking the school PTOs – which in the past have provided monetary donations – for prize donations for weekly “Tell About Tuesdays” and “Think About Thursdays” classroom activities, she said.

The goal is to give every child their own book, but the price of books has increased and even with the liberal discount from the bookseller for purchasing more than 1,000 books, 1Book BG will need to raise a minimum of $1,200 for the fall program. Individual titles range from $4-$6 per copy.

With $12 providing three books, “no donation is too small,” Higgins said.

To donate, send checks to BG Schools Foundation, P.O. Box 784, Bowling Green, OH 43402 with 1Book BG in the memo; or via PayPal at https://bgschoolsfoundation.com/.

“Without your generosity, we would not have been able to move forward with this opportunity when the library came to us and said they had a fall program,” Higgins said. “We believe our community is going to come out and make sure this program continues for our students.”

Any funds raised beyond the $1,200 being requested will carry over to the 2025 program, she said.

“As an English teacher, I’m giddy about this,” said board President Tracy Hovest.

Higgins said after the meeting her own children grew up with 1Book BG and to see how excited they became is something she wants to continue.

“I just see the excitement our students show each year,” she said. “The fact that we get different kinds or styles of books every year means we’re helping a student who maybe wasn’t connected to reading before find a connection. The fact that we change it up means we get more students – and we don’t want to give up that opportunity to help someone find themself in a book.”