The Library Board meeting last night was a 4-hr-long-nail-biter. Read this excellent coverage in Patch. And don’t blink, you might miss something!
evanston.patch.com
Join EPLFriends for the Best Booksale in Town –
Early Worm Special this Friday and Saturday and then again during the Sidewalk Sale the following weekend.
3000 Central Street, Central and Central Park in Evanston. Read more about the Sale here in TribLocal.
Four award-winning authors, including long-time Evanston resident Paul McComas (Unforgettable: Harrowing Futures, Horrors, and (Dark) Humor; Walkabout Publishing, 2011), will appear together at The Mighty Twig, 900 Chicago Avenue, Evanston, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15th. The authors are in the midst of a five-city Midwestern book tour.
Joining Paul for the event are novelists Douglas Armstrong (Even Sunflowers Cast Shadows), and Angela Woodward (End of the Fire Cult), and former Wisconsin Poet Laureate Marilyn L. Taylor. The event is free and open to the public. For more info, see TribLocal article here.
Evanston Public Library Friends are pleased to announce the start of their Tail Waggin’ Tutors program for young readers to provide a relaxed and “dog-friendly” atmosphere, which allows students to practice the skill of reading. The program will run beginning Saturday, June 4th, 3 – 5PM and continue each Saturday through June and July (except July 4th weekend) at EPL Friends’ The Mighty Twig reading room at 900 Chicago Avenue in Evanston. Parents interested in having their child participate can register at twig@eplfriends.org, or stop in at 900 Chicago Avenue. There is no cost to participate.
The main objective of the Tail Waggin’ Tutors program is to help children who may have difficulties reading develop confidence. Because these children are often self-conscious when reading aloud in front of other classmates, by sitting down next to a dog and reading to the dog, all threats of being judged are put aside. The child relaxes, pats the attentive dog, and focuses on the reading. Reading improves because the child is practicing the skill of reading, building self-esteem, and associating reading with something pleasant. The program run at North Branch earlier this year was extremely successful and well-attended.
“We’re very grateful to Tail Waggin’ Tutors, and excited to be able to offer these sorts of programs to our patrons,” said Twig Director, Marcia Mahoney.
Since opening their doors in April, the Mighty Twig, sponsored entirely by donations and volunteers of the Evanston Public Library Friends, has provided library services including book loans, story times, children’s programming, computer and internet services and more to the South Evanston community after losing the South Branch Library due to budget cuts. Anyone interested in making donations of time, money, or materials, can email Twig@eplfriends.org.
Evanston Public Library Friends are pleased to announce the start of their Tail Waggin’ Tutors program for young readers to provide a relaxed and “dog-friendly” atmosphere, which allows students to practice the skill of reading. The program will run beginning Saturday, June 4th, 3 – 5PM and continue each Saturday through June and July (except July 4th weekend) at EPL Friends’ The Mighty Twig reading room at 900 Chicago Avenue in Evanston. Parents interested in having their child participate can register at twig@eplfriends.org, or stop in at 900 Chicago Avenue. There is no cost to participate.
The main objective of the Tail Waggin’ Tutors program is to help children who may have difficulties reading develop confidence. Because these children are often self-conscious when reading aloud in front of other classmates, by sitting down next to a dog and reading to the dog, all threats of being judged are put aside. The child relaxes, pats the attentive dog, and focuses on the reading. Reading improves because the child is practicing the skill of reading, building self-esteem, and associating reading with something pleasant. The program run at North Branch earlier this year was extremely successful and well-attended.
“We’re very grateful to Tail Waggin’ Tutors, and excited to be able to offer these sorts of programs to our patrons,” said Twig Director, Marcia Mahoney.
Since opening their doors in April, the Mighty Twig, sponsored entirely by donations and volunteers of the Evanston Public Library Friends, has provided library services including book loans, story times, children’s programming, computer and internet services and more to the South Evanston community after losing the South Branch Library due to budget cuts. Anyone interested in making donations of time, money, or materials, can email Twig@eplfriends.org.
So, an amazing thing happened on Saturday, and we’re proud you played a part in it. One month ago the Evanston Library Board voted not to fund the continuation of the South Branch Library. Undaunted, EPL Friends stepped up and decided to fund our own experimental space while the Library Board continues its visioning process. Without missing a beat, or running the risk of losing the interest and enthusiasm of our members and the SB community, EPL began work in an empty storefront at 900 Chicago Ave. That space, less than one month later, became the Mighty Twig. Smaller than a branch, (but mighty) the Twig provides kids and adult books, internet, computers, storytime and a community space for everyone.
More than 500 people came to check out the Twig on Saturday, and more than 300 of you took out books on our Honor system of lending. No cards, no fines, no fees, no fooling. Kids fill out a reading log to help them (and parents) get into a good habit of being responsible for the books they check out, and to help parents know which books they are looking for amongst the dust bunnies under their beds.
We’re thrilled — seriously couldn’t be happier — with the initial community reaction, and we hope that this success will carry over as a model that makes sense for elsewhere in Evanston. If you haven’t seen the space yet, you have to come by. Twig is open Tues – Sat. 10 – 5, with later nights until 8PM on Thursdays beginning in mid-April. Check out some of our press here: Evanston Now, Trib Local, take a video tour with Evanston Patch .
Lots of things are still in motion for The Mighty Twig, and we still welcome donations of time, books, and financial contributions. All in, we figure it costs approximately $154 per day to run the Mighty Twig, with our entirely volunteer staff. We welcome your input and suggestions and thank you for your continued support!
Evanston Public Library Friends announce that work begins today at the new 900 Chicago Avenue, Suite 102 location, for Evanston Public Library Friends’ Outpost, despite the Library Board’s lack of support for the initiative at last night’s Library Board meeting. In the very near future patrons will be invited come see what’s in store, and the Outpost space is anticipated to open officially in mid-March. Staffed by volunteers, the space will have a collection of donated books and other reading material for children and adults, as well as computers and internet access, and will be open to the public five days a week.
EPLFriends are thrilled to have found such a perfect interim space for the new Outpost at 900 Chicago Ave., and are grateful to Thomas Ahleman of Studio Talo for his pro bono design work, to Boston Street Lab for their generous offer of shelving, and to those who have so generously supported the Friends’ efforts to keep neighborhood services alive. As Library Board Trustee, and ILA President, Gail Bush has said, “continuity” is such a critical factor for libraries. While not a library in the traditional sense of the word, the Outpost will help to provide that continuity in a way that is innovative and forward-thinking.
“The Friends are deeply disappointed with the decision of the Library Board, but will maintain our commitment to provide this service to the Main and Chicago neighborhood,” said EPLF president, Ellen Newcomer. “We hope that the books from South Branch, which have been purchased with Evanston taxpayers’ money, will stay in Evanston and help bolster our collection at the Outpost and as a distribution point for our other locations throughout the City.”
Library Board meeting is a cliff hanger, but in the end, the Board goes with a plan for temporary space for South Branch.
Read Trib Local account of the meeting.
Check out Evanston Patch
See what Evanston Review has to say
Evanston Public Library Friends group members are rightfully disgusted by last week’s action of the Evanston Public Library Board to adopt a zero-tax-increase guideline.
Friends group members expressed their anger by leaving the downtown library’s community room as the board finished its 5-3 vote Sept. 15 in support of the proposal by member Diane Allen-Jacobi.
The zero tax increase, except for salary and benefit adjustments, makes no sense in light of the board’s recent decision to take control of the library system budget by switching to a Library Fund model.
READ THE REST OF THE EDITORIAL HERE.
Evanston mayor had financial link to one of her Library Board picks
September 21, 2010 By BOB SEIDENBERG bseidenberg@pioneerlocal.com
Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl had financial dealings with one of her new nominees to the Library Board, stepping in and buying the family’s house after it went into foreclosure, public records show, and then serving as a landlord for an unspecified period before selling it back.
With the City Council’s consent, Tisdahl appointed new member Sharon Arceneaux just two days before the Sept. 15 Library Board meeting, in which Arceneaux and a second new board member gave the board a new majority on a proposal to back guidelines for no tax increase next year.
Read the rest of the article here.
Evanston Public Library Friends’ mission is to support the library. The concern of EPLFriends is that these are challenging times for the library. Board members need to have a vision of all that libraries can do for a community, the skills to help realize that vision, and the desire to do the job. We are looking forward to tomorrow night’s meeting and hope that all Board members keep their fiduciary duty to EPL top of mind.
Members of the Evanston Public Library Friends stormed out of a Library Board meeting Wednesday night, charging that the board’s action to adopt a zero tax increase guideline would in effect undermine months of work the group put in trying to save the city’s two branch libraries.
Group members showed their disgust with the action, leaving the downtown library’s community room as the board finished its 5-3 vote in support of the proposal by member Diane Allen-Jacobi.
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