In February 2021, we started the Madeline Oliveri Writing Program. This program is a new initiative funded by the family of the late Madeline Oliveri, a long-time volunteer at Palm Harbor Library and an upstanding member of the Palm Harbor Community. To honor her memory and celebrate her love for writing and self-enrichment, the Oliveri family is graciously sponsoring creative writing initiatives to commemorate Madeline’s legacy in our community, including a partnership with Biblioboard, a platform that allows writers to create their book, make it print and ebook ready, and include it in local library collections.
On October 13th, the youth department kicked off the Maddie Oliveri Jr. Writing Program with a Spooky Stories Tween Writing Workshop where participants created characters, settings, and plot points to write a collaborative spooky story together. We laughed, we screamed, we read our writing aloud by the light of a flashlight. We didn’t want the fun to end there, so participants and the rest of the youth community were invited to submit to this Spooky Stories anthology. We hope these stories will make goosebumps spread over you arms and chills creep down your spines.