Every year, our librarians review all our curated reading lists for kids and families, making sure we’re intentionally including books that represent diversity in race and ethnicity, gender, disability and neurodivergence, and more. One recent addition: Arab Heritage Reads, a list with fiction, nonfiction, and picture books by Arab and Arab-American authors and illustrators, is available … Read more
Last month we enjoyed sharing stories, creating, and discovering more about the Hindu spring festival Holi at Dole Branch Library! During the event, kids created a craft and learned more about Holi, also known as the “festival of colors” and the “festival of love,” through the Multicultural Collection. Mark your calendars for upcoming events featuring … Read more
It started as a way to celebrate the black experience all year long, and not just during Black History Month. Now, almost 36 months later, the library’s More Than a Month series kicks off its fourth year with an expanded outlook and programs that promote conversation and year-round enrichment for all. ‘It’s both/and’ More Than … Read more
Join us this winter—and all year round—for activities that can help foster empathy in our community. On Wednesday, December 12, discover world holidays through crafts, games, books and artifacts from the Multicultural Collection at Holidays Around the World from 4 to 5 pm at Dole Branch Library. And join members of the community to celebrate Kwanzaa, a celebration … Read more
By Maliha Chishti Dr. Maliha Chishti is a researcher specializing in war and post-conflict peacebuilding and a Lecturer at the Harris School of Public Policy. On Wednesday, October 3, she joins us at the Main Library at 7 pm as part of the ongoing series Understanding the World of Islam, presented in partnership with the … Read more
Last year, the founder of local Facebook group Raising Race Conscious Kids in and around Oak Park reached out to us. Although she had been raised to be “color-blind,” Andrea Kovach wrote, she is raising her 3- and 6-year-olds differently because “research has shown that instead of dismantling structural racism, that way of parenting just … Read more
Library live-streaming canceled; join us at OPRF Three years ago, Academy Award-nominated director Steve James filmed a year in the life of a dozen Oak Park and River Forest High School students. Due to overwhelming response and limited resources, we have canceled our plans to live-stream at the library. Please join us at Oak Park and … Read more
How do you start to have conversations about an object? It’s something the library’s new Multicultural Learning Librarian, Naomi Priddy, has been reflecting on as she immerses herself in the library’s Multicultural Collection. Her goal? To promote intercultural learning and empathy, in part by sharing the curiosity-sparking stories the collection’s artifacts can tell. “What do you … Read more
