1898 Day Bros. Building Book Warehouse

Renovation will help the 1898 Day Bros. building withstand another century. Readers help me through a portion of book and art proceeds that fix the historic building.

When I was four years old, barefoot and shirtless, I clenched the sides of my radio flyer wagon not knowing what lay ahead of me. Summer’s midday sun baked the asphalt beneath my wagon and Momma’s bare feet. She patiently tugged the noisy wagon up Highway 109 toward an odd truck parked outside Trotter’s Country Store. Momma propped me on her hip, then carried me into the boxy vehicle she called a bookmobile. Standing inside, a librarian joyfully greeted me asking, “What’s your favorite book little man?”

My favorite book would have started like a Disney movie—magical. At four, I couldn’t conceive how words and drawings would eventually impact my rural community of 2,500 people. Since that memorable day, I’ve illustrated over sixty picture books, meet over one million students as a public speaker, and inspired all ages to chase their publishing dream. In 2015, I relocated my company’s book warehouse to the 1898 Day Bros. building, one of the last historic structures from Dawson Springs, Kentucky’s establishment.

The building is perfect as a warehouse, but it could be much more in the community with care and attention. The renovation can be achieved even more quickly through the purchase of one of more than 2,000 original children’s book illustrations from my private collection. Be a part of another century of new chapters in the 1898 Day Bros. building’s story.

We thank the current supporters for their recent purchases.

“Words and drawings affect a reader’s world!”—Mark Wayne Adams