Health Highlights: Yoga, Anyone?
Yoga has numerous benefits. Yoga helps to improve stress management, cardiovascular health, mental health, balance and posture, just to name a few. If you are curious about yoga and want…
The Classic of the Month: A Study in Scarlet
Welcome back to The Classic of the Month! Today, we're looking at a classic of the mystery genre, a title famous for introducing the world to the greatest detective of…
Porter Poetry
The Adult Creative Writing Group meets once a month at the Westlake Porter Public Library. The group is open to any adult interested in spending an hour indulging in some…
Medium Monday: Colored Pencil
What Is Colored Pencil? Colored pencils are just what they sound like. A thin outer layer of wood makes a stylus with a pigmented core that leaves a mark when…
Folklore Fun! Nigeria
This post was updated in September 2026 to reflect WPPL’s current collection. I have a giant spreadsheet of books with folkloric influences. The main challenge I have with these blog…
The Science of Spice
Creating a flavorful dish often requires ingenuity and trial and error. The right spice or spice blend can make or break a recipe, sort of like a catalyst in a…
STEAM Week: The Classic Mad Scientists of the Silver Screen
There's nothing I love more than a good mad scientist movie (except, perhaps a good haunted house movie). So, in honor of STEAM Week, I've provided a list of some…
STEAM Week: Easy DIY Zoetrope
This DIY Zoetrope project creates movement in design and is the perfect way to celebrate STEAM Week with your children. Making a Zoetrope encourages your children to practice multiple skills…
Mammoth Math by David Macaulay, pp. 84-85
David Macaulay: When Art and Science Meet
There is no one like David Macaulay. His picture book Black and White won the Caldecott medal for it's unique split-screen storytelling (four narratives play out side-by-side, leaving the reader…
A Second Sampler of Terror: 100 Classic Horror Films, Pt.2
A few days ago, I shared the first 50 titles of this list, which is a 100-film sampler to celebrate our Horror Film Club celebrating 100 meetings. If you'd like…
Dino-Mite Books
Freddy Fossil's Dino Show comes to the Porter Room on Monday, July 10 at 7:00pm as part of STEAM Week. To celebrate, here are some great dinosaur books in the…
A Sampler of Terror: 100 Classic Horror Films, Part.1
On July 5, 2023, the Horror Film Club will celebrate our 100th meeting! That means 100 sessions of classic chillers, every month! In celebration of our milestone, I wanted to…
The Classic of the Month: Harold and the Purple Crayon
It was one of my favorite books as a child and its still one of my favorite nostalgia reads now. This month's classic is a heartwarming tale of a young…
Artist Highlight: The Oh Hellos
When it comes to listening to music, I have a few bands that I tend to listen to all the time. I know what I like and I stick to…
Cat’s Picks! Pride Month Comics
Comics have been a vital part of my life as long as I can remember, having been passed down my dad's collection of antique comic books at a young age.…
More Summer Scares: Additional Horror Anthologies to Scare You Silly
As promised, here is part two of my Summer Scares anthology series! And I hope all of you are taking some time to curl up with a good book and…
Porter Poetry
The Adult Creative Writing Group meets once a month at the Westlake Porter Public Library. The group is open to any adult interested in spending an hour indulging in some…
Video Game Movies and Shows
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is out on DVD and BluRay today! This action-packed adventure is one of the highest grossing animated films of all time and there is already…
Medium Monday: Watercolor
What Is Watercolor? Watercolor paint usually comes as a solid cake or a tube of gel. Both substances are a highly concentrated pigment, meant to be diluted with water. The…
Find Your Next Read: Cozy Horror
What is cozy horror? Like its cousin cozy mysteries, blood, gore, and jump scares are kept at arm's length or are only alluded to.
Creating Your Own Summer Reading Challenge
Every summer, ever since I was in college, I've created a summer reading challenge for myself. It started as a way to catch up on a genre of books that…
The Classic of the Month: Manalive
Sometimes, the classics start at a leisurely pace, describing a beautiful piece of landscape--a farm perhaps--or the current lazy daydreams of a young protagonist. Other times, the classics start off…
Summer Scares: Horror Anthologies To Chill You To The Bone
I love to read scary stories in the summer. Not only are the days longer (so I'm "safe" for longer), but also, I like to read outside, which means there…
Folklore Fun! Oceania and the Philippines
This post was updated in August 2026 to reflect WPPL’s current collection. Ohio is not known for its proximity to the Pacific Ocean. And since the Westlake Porter Library does…