Joliet Public Library Unveils Youth Art Gallery Presented by Old National Bank
Joliet Public Library is pleased to announce the unveiling of the new Youth Art Gallery, presented by Old National Bank. The gallery space on the second floor of the Ottawa Street Branch will feature artwork from Joliet’s young artists from local area schools.
Business Librarian at the Crystal Lake Public Library here. I had a patron come in for a one-on-one reference appointment shortly before the COVID-19 lockdown went into effect. She and her partner were looking to open a bookstore and needed help gathering information. I showed her our collection of business books, worked with her to find resources on writing a business plan, and demonstrated a couple of databases that would help her in her quest.
Cool, autumn weather and… gardens? It may not seem like the two go hand-in-hand, but now is the perfect time to start thinking about library programming and services for next year. One great way to get started is with a Garden Table.
Started in 2018, the Vespasian Warner Public Library District Garden Table encourages local gardeners to bring their surplus fruits and vegetables to share with the community. Then, library visitors are invited to take home whatever items they can use. This is a great way for the community to receive free produce that may otherwise go to waste.
I recently met with my state senator to talk about support for libraries. It was an interesting conversation and at the very least, I hope I made her think differently about what is happening in libraries. My own journey to this meeting was a bit odd, but I wanted to share it with you in case you might want to go on your own advocacy journey.
In the summer of 2021, the Head of Reference and Instruction Services (RIS) at the Paul V. Galvin Library at the Illinois Institute of Technology reached out to the university’s First Year Experience Program (FYE) coordinator about a potential collaboration. One of the goals of the FYE program is to introduce incoming students to campus resources, services, and support so an introduction to the library seemed like a good fit.
As costs rise across the entire economic playing field, libraries are feeling the squeeze on their budgets. One way to help mitigate a tight programming budget is to foster and maintain community partnerships. Working with the businesses in your community is a winning solution for everyone involved. Libraries get exposure to potential new card holders, while businesses get “free advertising” to prospective customers. Often, the business community does not think about the library as a potential partner, so it is up to the library’s marketing or programming lead to ini
Well not necessarily…That’s the lesson we learned at Palatine Library. We went through a full renovation on both floors of our Main Library during Covid shutdowns – the only silver lining to that challenging time. Like many libraries, door counts and program attendance went down drastically, but when we began seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, we wanted to see that reflected in our attendance.
So, our staff began to ask an important question: how do we get people back in the building?
River Forest Library is the final destination for an elaborate marriage proposal.
On Sunday, February 20, 2022, the Library was fortunate to be part of a very special event. Christopher had planned an ambitious adventure for his girlfriend Allison - that included scavenger hunting, puzzle solving, and exploring - all leading up to the final event of the day at the River Forest Public Library: a marriage proposal for Allison.
That wasn’t quite the tagline for our Welcome Back to the Library campaign last fall, but we did offer a chance to win McDonald’s and Target gift cards!
As the summer of 2021 approached, Warrenville Library was starting to plan for a fall return to pre-pandemic hours and services. We were hopeful about resuming in-person programming, returning seating and tables to our public spaces, opening study rooms and offering our usual amenities.