Dressed Up: Youth Services Librarian Makes Good on His Bet with Children

Will Savage, head of youth services at Shorewood-Troy Library, made a deal with the children enrolled in the library's summer reading program: Have Book Will Travel.

If they covered the walls outside his office in the library's basement with colorful paper suitcases, each one marking a book read, he would wear a dress for a day to celebrate their achievement.

That day was Monday.

Savage dressed in "special" dress he picked out at a local Goodwill & Donation Center. He also posed for photographs and had the children roaring in the aisles as they stopped in to catch a glimpse of him and huddled around during story time.

The rest of the youth library staff also dressed in dresses—Katie Voitik, Anna Pauls, Mayra Rubio and Kristin McGaffic. All of them fit in their outfits better than Savage.

"The hardest thing was finding something in my size," he said. "I think this was just extra-large. That was the designation. No, I'm not a size 6. Once, long, long ago. No, I'm kidding."

Savage said 916 children, ranging from birth to age 12, were enrolled in the Shorewood-Troy Library's summer reading program—a record count. And he said the children read more than 10,000 books in a six-week time period.

For more photos of Savage and the library staff, visit the Shorewood-Troy Library's Facebook Page.