Yes, we’re open! Honor the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. as a day on, not a day off this Monday, January 20. Looking for ways to serve your community on MLK Day? Use the Corporation for National & Community Service search tool to find local volunteer opportunities » Join us at the Main Library … Read more
Access much more global digital news and entertainment content with three new online resources! From anywhere at anytime, Oak Park cardholders can log in to read popular digital magazines such as TIME, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and Chicago Magazine, and newspapers including the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, and The Guardian, as well … Read more
“Traditionally, Open Chess has been a small group of folks that come out every week and play together,” says Community Engagement Librarian Ian Gosse, who coordinates the weekly Monday evening meetup. But over the summer, attendance rocketed as more and more enthusiasts of all ages converged on the Main Library. Students from Oak Park and … Read more
In an effort to proactively inform all about where to find shelter during severe weather, this information is now posted at all library front entrances and has been shared for posting with members of the Oak Park Homeless Coalition. As a reminder, the library is a defacto warming center, meaning we organically serve as one during library open hours … Read more
Six replica Benin bronzes are now on display on the Main Library’s third floor, with three more coming soon. Part of the library’s Multicultural Collection, these replicas can spark important conversations about pre-colonial African culture and the repatriation of cultural heritage artifacts. The original Benin bronzes, from the Kingdom of Benin in what is now … Read more
As your public library, we love to share! And that includes sharing space with our neighbors. “The ethical cornerstone of public libraries is that we want to benefit the public good, and sharing what we have is the way we do it,” says Skye Lavin, Manager of Adult Services at the Forest Park Public Library. … Read more
As part of ongoing efforts to increase online security and data privacy, hoopla will begin to require all users to provide their library Personal Identification Number (PIN) to borrow and stream beginning Tuesday, December 10. During this upgrade, some hoopla content (more than 800,000 audiobooks, comics, ebooks, movies, music, and TV titles) may be affected … Read more
Our summer reading program is open to all kids, wherever they live. And this past summer, we were able to better share it with kids who are new to the United States and still learning English. For the first time, we translated summer reading guides into multiple languages, including Albanian, Japanese, Polish, and Vietnamese. Librarian Genevieve … Read more
In May, Oak Park residents Pem Hessing, Nicole Sumida, and Yoko Terretta organized a family celebration at the Main Library in honor of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. In addition to literary readings, fine art, food, and martial arts demonstrations, they celebrated notable Asian Americans and also challenged definitions of who is considered … Read more
Each November, The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum pay tribute to the rich ancestry and traditions of Native Americans during National Native American Heritage Month. Learn more at nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov » Native reads for … Read more
