While our library buildings are closed and many library services have moved online, we haven’t forgotten our dedicated volunteers who are waiting to return to help at our physical locations. April is National Volunteer Month. This year, we’re feeling the difference, as we aren’t able to express our appreciation to library volunteers in person. But despite the … Read more
Of all the Peruvian folk dances that Oak Park resident Kathy Valdivia has studied and taught, her favorite is the Huaylarsh. It’s “a happy dance,” she says, one that recalls agricultural work and courtship among young people in the central Andean highlands of Peru, where Valdivia is originally from. When Valdivia (pictured) moved to Oak … Read more
This year’s Teen Summer Volunteer program goes through the end of July, but already the community can see the efforts of the teen volunteers paying off. Since June 10, volunteer teams have been serving the community in various ways, including helping local organizations, creating outdoor public artwork, and showing younger kids why science, technology, engineering, … Read more
As part of our ongoing focus to sustain the natural environment and to offer new opportunities to learn, this spring we installed two beehives, buzzing with up to 20,000 Italian honeybees, on the Main Library’s Green Roof. With our two hives, the library joins a small community of beekeepers in Oak Park—including resident hobbyists, the … Read more
After a career working in libraries around Illinois, Susan Burke retired to Oak Park. It was a return—she grew up in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood and lived in Oak Park in the early 1970s. “Oak Park has always been committed to social justice, and that was why I came back,” she said. Burke also gives back. … Read more
