INDIANAPOLIS — Library cardholder Melanie Ohlsen, a 49-year-old billing and collections specialist and mother of a college-age son, was randomly selected from 38,172 distinct borrowers who checked out or downloaded a total of 283,023 items from the Library during the February campaign spearheaded by Indianapolis Colts tight end Dwayne Allen. Those who used their Indianapolis Public Library card to check out any items during the month were automatically entered to become eligible to win the Colts season tickets.
Allen, a supporter of the Library since his rookie season in 2012, initiated the reading project as a way to encourage children and adults to read more books, especially those about Black history heroes and the Civil Rights Movement. Coincidentally, the transaction which resulted in Ohlsen’s season ticket prize was for the book, The Invention of Wings by Sue Kidd Monk, a moving portrait of two women inextricably linked by the horrors of slavery and an Oprah Book Club selection in December 2013.
In addition to the season ticket presentation on March 27 in Central Library’s West Reading Room, Allen provided Ohlsen with a personalized copy of The Invention of Wings and expressed his appreciation for all who participated in the “Super Read Challenge.”
