Lodewyks shares passion for literacy, Berryville Library Building Project

Ever since moving to the area in 1996, Peggy Lodewyks has been infusing her energy into making our rural county an even better place to live, work, and play.

Driven by her deep passion for reading, learning and promoting community, Lodewyks has been instrumental in helping the Berryville Library raise money for the new library by giving of her time and resources. She hopes sharing her story will help others tap into their love for learning and our library and inspire them to give what they can now so that Berryville can build the new library it so desperately needs to serve our community and our county for generations to come.

Lodewyks’ grandfather was a coal miner in Uniontown, Pa., with little education. Her father quit school before eighth grade to help support his mother and four sisters during the Depression. His further education was reading. When Lodewyks was born, her parents began putting silver dollars away for her college education. They combined an emphasis on saving with a lot of real-life training from the school of hard knocks.

“My father kept telling me: ‘Read! Read! Read!’ stating that no one can take advantage of you if you can read since it is the best type of life insurance you can have!” said Lodewyks. “The world is open to you if you can read.”

Lodewyks’ passion is to help give that “life insurance” her dad gave her to more people and to open the world up to as many people as possible.

According to Berryville Library Building Project Fundraising Chairman Tyler Squires, “Since the campaign started in 2021, Lodewyks has donated over $100,000 to our project and has invested hundreds of volunteer hours to support the library and its Friends. We are ever so grateful for this support and her contagious enthusiasm. We have learned so much from her throughout this campaign.”

Lodewyks serves on the Berryville Library Advisory Board, the Carroll County Library Board, and the Carroll and Madison Library System Board. In the past, she has also served on the Friends of the Berryville Library Board. She is on the board of the Holiday Island Rotary Club. As a Rotarian, Lodewyks has been a leader with the Carroll County Youth Literacy Rotary Foundation, whose mission is to inspire children to “Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More” through connecting families to the Carroll County Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a program dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books free of charge to children from birth to age 5 “I just want to share my passion for reading with everyone in this community,” Lodewyks said. “I have been blessed to be able to support the project at this level but would encourage everyone reading this to know that all gifts to the Berryville Library Building Fund, regardless of their size, will help secure a wonderful, welcoming, and safe place for everyone to access learning, meet new friends, and just hang out and have fun in an encouraging environment. It is estimated that our library provides over $1 million in benefit to this community each year through the programs and resources it provides in its current small space. Just imagine what the library could do with more room for all.”

Time is running out to be part of the story of building this new library for Berryville. On April 1, 2021, the Friends of the Berryville Library announced a plan to raise $3.5 million and break ground on a new library in 2025. Almost $3.3 million of this $3.5 million goal has been raised and Nabholz Construction is preparing to put the new Berryville Library out to bid on Dec. 9. No local tax revenues can be used to build the new library, so it is crucial that the Friends raise at least $200,000 more to ensure there is enough money to cover all costs of construction, furnishings and any unforeseen contingencies. All gifts to the Berryville Library Building Fund are tax-deductible and greatly appreciated. Gifts of $1,000 or more will be memorialized on a donor wall in the new library.

Lodewyks is proud to be part of a community that is stepping up in such an unprecedented way and is excited she can be part of making history here in Berryville. She hopes a few others will join her before the end of the year so that the fundraising goal is met before construction begins.

For more information on how you can donate to the Berryville Library Building Fund, or to become involved in the Friends of the Berryville Library, call 870 4232323 or stop by the library, located at 104 Spring St.

For information on all the free programs and services the library offers, check out www.berryvillelibrary. org. There are events for people of all ages, and everyone is always welcome at the library!