Members of St. Joseph Catholic Church visited Orion Township Public Library on May 30 to celebrate the blessing of a bronze statue that was placed at the front entrance of the library last year.

Professional sculptor Suzanne Young has created two other statue pieces for the Orion Township Public Library. All three pieces were commissioned and then donated anonymously to the library over the years.

“Books, Most Wonderful Friend in the World” depicts two young boys gesturing toward the doors of the library with books in hand.

“The boys are leading the way to the library for greater learning. They’re bringing people in to enhance their education,” Young said.

Overall, the statue took Young about four months to complete.

In the past with the other two sculptures, Young and the anonymous donor worked with St. Joseph Catholic Church to coordinate a statue blessing. This year, Father. Jim Kean from St. Joes lead the dozens of other guests in prayer before officially blessing the statue.

“Instead of just a ceremony, we’re catholic and we have a blessing to kind of consecrate it to God. To thank God for his gifts. It’s that simple,” said Young.

“Books, Most Wonderful Friend in the World” is currently on display in front of the Orion Township Public Library located at 825 Joslyn Rd, Lake Orion.

— Megan Kelley