The library is more than just books, and our series Books and Beyond with the Milwaukee Public Library showcases just that. We share resources, book recommendations and some cool stuff you might not know about.
As summer begins and children are dismissed from school, the Milwaukee Public Library's Summer Reading Program helps people of all ages read throughout the summer. It first started at MPL's Third Street Branch as an unofficial summer reading contest for kids to participate in weekly contests, along with story times and programs.
"The official system wide Summer Reading Program started in 1937 and that was spearheaded by the head of extension services Samuel McKillop and he really wanted to inspire kids to read over the summer, and the first summer reading program was the Ancient Order of Bookworms," says Special Collections Librarian Sarah Finn.
Now where did the cult-like Ancient Order of Bookworms (A.O.B.W.) come from and who was their leader, you ask? That would be Billy the Bookworm, the first mascot of MPL's Summer Reading Program who had an impressive tenure from 1939–1977.
"Each kid if they were going to their branch it would be called their 'lodge,' so sort of like a Masonic-type thing, but they would get a membership card if they read a book and then they would get various titles the more that they read," explains Finn. "I believe after reading 16 books they would get a special sash and they would be invited to the Ancient Order of the Bookworms convention and I think the first year it was held at the south side branch over several hundred children were there and each branch would get its own [Grand Exalted Bookworm]."
To become a Grand Exalted Bookworm, students had to write a book report from a list of 50 titles and the best report was chosen at each branch. It was a little more intensive then a Super Reader program or other iterations of summer reading contests, but it drew in thousands of young readers. "They would call the the children 'worms' or 'bookworms' [and] there were newspaper articles about various parades that they had and they would talk about the the worms parading in their costumes," adds Finn.
Billy the Bookworm arrived two years after the Ancient Order of Bookworms was founded in 1939 as not only the mascot of the summer reading program, but also as a radio host, television and other media within the library system.
"Over that almost 40 year tenure he had a lot of different adventures," says Finn. "[Billy] was a time traveler, an astronaut, a cowboy, all sorts of things. He traveled the Saint Lawrence seaway, so each year you would go on a different [topical] adventure so that the children would join Billy the Bookworm."
Just as Billy had a lot of different jobs, he also had a lot of different looks — from cute to creepy. "[There's] lots of different drawings of Billy, but then he had a physical form," notes Finn. "So some of the first puppets were paper mâché, he had freckles, he was very cute. But then he kind of took a creepy turn in the 1950s and had kind of a rubbery face and a local puppet maker named Alfred Martin redesigned Billy in 1959."
Puppet Billy had a rubber face, dark furry mane (or other colors the puppet maker had on hand), antennae made of bells, and strange human-like hands. People could even buy their own Billy at the Milwaukee Public Museum gift shop, since Central Library and the museum were housed in the same building, or you could order Billy by mail for $2.95. If you want to make your own Billy the Bookworm, Central Library's processing archivist special collections librarian Casey Lapworth made a crochet pattern for anyone to use.
"I just think it's so fun, like there's a Billy for everyone! My two favorite Billy's, one of them he's an artist and then there's also a Billy who is a campaign for bicycle safety and they're just so cute," says Finn. "I think some of the drawings are cuter than the physical worms."
Billy's career ended in 1977 and the library was trying out different reading program ideas, such as partnering with the Milwaukee Bucks. In 1985, Billy was officially replaced by Browser the Library Lion who was made after a grant was secured to hire a local artist.
"[Browser] wasn't just any ordinary lion, he had the Central Library dome on his head [and] he had two different versions: one that could walk around and meet with people but then also a sort of sphinx-like lion that like we're reclining that people would parade around the streets."
While Finn admits they haven't found a "complete link," many people believe Browser is a nod to Sim, an actual lion cub who lived in the Milwaukee Public Museum in the 1920s.
Browser is still the mascot of the MPL today, just with a different costume. If you want to see the original sphyx-like sculpture that was paraded around, one of the original surviving Billy the puppets and various ephemera and photos from summer reading campaigns over the years, the next Exploring Archives program will have them all on display. You can drop in between 4:30-6:30 p.m. on June 16th in Central Library's Art, Music and Recreation Room on the second floor.
"[My favorite thing is] just how inventive people were and just all the fun things that we had to offer over the years for summer reading program," says Finn. She also notes that many MPL staff love the Ancient Order of the Bookworms, so we "might be seeing some things coming down the road." In the meantime, Billy has established a new cult-like following being featured on MPL's social media, so you can always find him there until the ancient order is potentially resurrected.
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