COLUMBUS, Ohio — Confetti, costumed characters and a surprise guest turned an ordinary assembly at Oakland Park Elementary School into a celebration of reading on Tuesday, October 27, when “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” author Jeff Kinney walked onto the school stage, Columbus City Schools reported.
The visit was a reward the school had already earned. Columbus City Schools said Oakland Park won the district’s Outstanding Library Award for 2026 after recording more library book checkouts last year than any other school in the district — 21,604 checkouts at a school of about 300 students.
For Mary Eberlin, Oakland Park’s library instructional assistant, the morning was the high point of a long career at the school. Eberlin, now in her 28th year at Oakland Park, told Columbus City Schools: “The fact that he was on our stage talking to [our students] and interacting with their principal and with their library lady, it just — it was amazing.”
Students needed no introduction to the guest. Kinney told Columbus City Schools that during the surprise reveal he asked how many students had read his books: “Just about every kid raised their hand. So it feels really good.”
Student Alexander Turner told Columbus City Schools the books are “really fun to read,” and said he owns “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw,” recalling a favorite scene in which Greg hides in a laundry basket to find out who has been taking the snacks. Classmate Aviyah Harvey told the district she likes the books because they are funny and “understandable,” and connected Greg’s troubles to characters in another favorite series, “The Baby-Sitters Club.”
Kinney told Columbus City Schools his hope reaches beyond one morning’s excitement: “I really want to make sure kids feel inspired to tell their own stories. I think that every kid’s story needs to be told.” He added: “I hope these kids will keep reading. It’s really the best thing. It makes them interesting and vibrant and empathetic.”
The numbers behind the award help explain why the visit landed here. Averaged across the school, 21,604 checkouts works out to dozens of books per student over the school year — a pace Columbus City Schools credited to a library culture Eberlin has built over nearly three decades, urging students to give unfamiliar books a chance until they find a favorite.
“When a kid comes in, a student comes into me and says, I loved this book, it just makes my heart so happy,” Eberlin told Columbus City Schools.
The celebration also fits a wider push on early reading across the district. Earlier this month, Columbus City Schools and Columbus Metropolitan Library announced a partnership giving every second grader in the district’s 72 elementary schools a free library field trip this school year, an effort the district tied to its board goal of raising third-grade reading proficiency on the Ohio State Test from 34.5% in 2022-23 to 44.55% by the 2028 school year. All Columbus City Schools students already hold Student Success Cards giving them access to library resources.
The “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” books follow middle-schooler Greg Heffley through the everyday disasters of school and family life, and Columbus City Schools’ account of the visit shows why the series works as a first favorite for so many young readers: students quoted the stories’ humor, retold favorite scenes from memory and connected Greg’s troubles to other books they love. For a school being honored for circulation, that kind of talk about books is exactly the culture the award measures.
The partnership behind the district’s push extends well beyond one school. Columbus City Schools said its field-trip partnership with Columbus Metropolitan Library covers second graders at all 72 of its elementary schools, and the library system operates 23 locations, including the Main Library downtown. Students across the district already carry Student Success Cards for library access, so a child inspired at Oakland Park can walk into any branch and leave with an armful of books.
Oakland Park’s award shows what that push looks like when it takes hold in one building: a small elementary school out-reading every other school in Ohio’s largest district, then getting to meet the author behind one of its most-checked-out series. Related coverage: Akron Children’s opens a pediatric practice inside a Cleveland Boys & Girls Club and the Marietta Foundation’s $2 million match for Washington County giving.
What happens next is quieter than confetti: Eberlin and her students go back to the shelves, defending the checkout crown for another year, while the district’s second-grade library trips roll out across Columbus. If Oakland Park’s pace is any guide, the next author who visits a Columbus school may find just as many hands in the air.
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