This week, people with mental health challenges or substance use disorder often end up in jail. But crisis response teams offer another way. Also, one year after the Mountain Valley Pipeline went into service, people who live directly in the pipeline’s path have received compensation. But not everyone. And, the Sacred Harp songbook gets an update for the first time since the early 1990s.
WVPB Is Seeking Sponsors For Its Inquire Within Library Program
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WVPB offers a unique out-of-school program designed to encourage family engagement and highlight the importance of early literacy in elementary school children; sponsors are needed to make it accessible for West Virginia libraries.
Inquire Withinis designed to bring respected PBS Kids educational content to children via their local library. The program, currently offered in 13 libraries, makes learning enjoyable for children throughout the Mountain State. There are 15 libraries — Sutton Public Library, Helvetia Public Library, Lowe Public Library, Southern Area Library, Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library, Morgan County Public Library, Ohio County Public Library, Brooke County Public Library, Shady Spring Branch Library, Vienna Public Library, Putnam County Library, Cowen Public Library, Louis Bennet Public Library, Fort Ashby Public Library, and Mary H. Weir Public Library — poised to offer the program once a sponsor is identified to help with expenses.
Current participating libraries are Doddridge County Public Library, Tyler County Public Library, Clay County Public Library, Burnsville Public Library, Mason County Library, Hundred Public Library, Hamlin Public Library, Boone-Madison Public Library, Webster-Addison Public Library, Eleanor Branch Library, Buffalo Public Library, Cabell County Public Library, and Raleigh County Public Library – Beckley Branch.
“Inquire Within is a great program that brings smiles to children’s faces, and makes learning an experience rather than a chore,” said Harrison Evans, WVPB education specialist. “Library staff who are able to offer this program frequently mention how beneficial it is to their libraries and respective communities.”
Since January 2021, 163 children and 73 adults have been served by this program, and Evans is hopeful those numbers will continue to rise. “Family engagement is a focal point of Inquire Within,” said Evans. “This program is meant to supplement the work libraries are already doing, while engaging parents and children simultaneously with PBS Kids content.”
Do you know someone who would be willing to sponsor a library (or more)? If so, connect with Todd Frymyer, underwriting manager, at (304) 556-4905.
If you would like to have Inquire Within in your library, connect with Harrison Evans at (304) 556-4922.
West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 Reader’s Choice Awards for this year’s PBS KIDS Writers Contest. Every year, WVPB picks a select number of stories out of all the submissions to win the Reader’s Choice Awards. Those stories are either animated or adapted into live action shorts.
Rebecca Walters, an English teacher at Fairmont Senior High School in Marion County, earned West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s May 2025 Above and Beyond Award, which honors the excellence and creativity of Mountain State teachers.
Shannon Silverman, an astrophysicist at the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences in Charleston, West Virginia, guides us through the cosmos above the Mountain State.
Ashley Clark, a music teacher at Williamstown Middle/High School in Wood County, earned West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s April 2025 Above and Beyond Award, which honors the excellence and creativity of Mountain State teachers.
