By Children’s Librarian José Cruz This week, I would like to introduce the African influence on Puerto Rican music by exploring Bomba traditions. Bomba music is a call and response process where the dancer communicates with the drummers and vice versa. This musical tradition dates back to 17th century Puerto Rico, and it served as … Read more
By Children’s Librarian Shelley Harris Greetings and salutations! Jenny and I have been having fun sharing words this week, from words about apples to what we can find around our homes. Words are everywhere! Explore words together with these videos, activities, books, and more. Watch these videos Miss Jenny has a book called Be Kind, … Read more
By Collection Management Librarian Dontaná McPherson-Joseph Travel with us to the oft-overlooked region of Appalachia. Nestled in the peaks, valleys, nooks, and crannies of the Appalachian Mountains, separating the East Coast from the Midwest, this beautiful region is home to rare accents, deep religion, and hidden secrets. Appalachian fiction Betty by Tiffany McDaniel Why you should … Read more
By Children’s Librarian Shelley Harris Back in the pre-COVID-19 days, we used to get small kids coming up to the desk and proudly reading a book to us. Their caregiver would laugh and say they had it memorized or were describing the pictures. And guess what? That is also reading! The articles about Picture Walks … Read more
As the library’s Teen Services Specialist, Darcel Washington provides outreach and program support to kids in grades 6-12. Darcel joined the library last November, bringing more than 15 years of experience in creating innovative youth development programs. With the library, she works on youth programs such as Living History and Leading Edge, plus this month’s … Read more
By Children’s Librarian Hal Patnott Developing accurate and affirming language to name the parts of our bodies and understanding the ways in which bodies change as we age is an important skill for young people to learn. Not only is it a matter of physical health, but it also provides young people with better tools … Read more
In 2017, the Village of Oak Park Board of Trustees approved a proclamation declaring the second Monday in October Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This day recognizes that Native peoples were the first inhabitants of North America and celebrates their history, traditions, and stories. We acknowledge that Oak Park is situated on the ancestral land of the … Read more
By Children’s Librarian Shelley Harris Like the sounds we talked about last week, rhymes and rhyming words are an important part of pre-reading and reading. It’s another way to play with words, see how they’re made and how to break them down. This helps kids be able to understand how to sound words out when … Read more
Each October, we recognize Health Literacy Month, a time to promote the importance of understandable health information. October is also a month chosen to highlight awareness of many disability communities, a time to call for acceptance of and advocacy for people who use communication aids to speak, have Down Syndrome, Sensory Processing Disorder, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, … Read more
‘The kind of project that makes us love Oak Park’ With funding from the Illinois State Library, we’ve launched an initiative to distribute new, free books to community members who are most in need of resources. Recipients will be able to keep these books forever and use them to build their home libraries. This new … Read more
