Support a Library Space in Memory of Amelia

From Sarah: On behalf of the Kaplans and with love for my dear niece, I am organizing a fundraiser for Sellers Memorial Library in Upper Darby. Please read the message from our family below:

In loving memory of Amelia Mei-En Kaplan

Amelia Mei-En Kaplan passed away on August 2, 2025. She was 21 years old and a light to all who knew her. We miss her deeply every day.

In memory of Amelia’s love of reading and the creative arts, we are raising funds for a dedicated reading area/maker space in Sellers Children’s Library, a place Amelia loved and visited often.

From the time she was born, Amelia loved books. She insisted on three books before bed each night and loved reciting whole books from memory. When Amelia turned three, she renamed her entire family, including her newborn brother, after characters in Jean Van Leeuwen’s Oliver and Amanda Pig series. She loved the library. Summertime walks to Sellers Library became a favorite past time. We would load her brother’s stroller with so many books and carried him instead. Nothing made her happier than having a stack of books by her bedside even up to her college years.

Books were an endless source of inspiration for Amelia. After reading the Little House series, she spent countless hours playing with “Laura and Mary” - wearing bonnets, writing on slates and eating bowls of maple syrup on snow.  She yearned for an attic space like Sarah Crewe in The Little Princess and learned how to shoot a bow and arrow after reading The Hunger Games.  In high school, Amelia fell in love with the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Mary Oliver and found in poetry a way to express her own experiences.  

Amelia loved making things, too. She built small furniture for her Calico Critters and outfitted her American Girl dolls with duct tape accessories. She strung shells into hanging mobiles, snipped and sewed old clothing into new creations, and crocheted many hats, scarves, and fingerless gloves for herself and her friends.  Classes at the Westphal School of Design exposed her to 3-D modeling, watercolor and wire sculpture. She left behind so many artifacts of her imagination and creativity.

All her life, Amelia loved reading, making art and journaling. A little nook, a book, a journal and a good Muji pen were the tools of her escape.  One of her last design projects at Drexel was to design a community library. She had such a love for libraries because of her experiences at Sellers.  In her honor, we would like to dedicate a library space we know she would have loved and used to read, to imagine and to escape.

Amelia, we miss you so much. You have found your eternal rest in the arms of Your Heavenly Father. Thank you for all the beauty you brought into our lives. We hope this space will be a place that reflects your spirit and your love. May many discover the joy of reading and the joy of making in it.

~ The Kaplan Family: Bill, Jeanette, and Ian