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Best of 2022: TV shows, movies, & music

Best of 2022: Movies, music & more text next to a thumbs up icon with sparkles floating above, all on a misty orange orb background

Oak Park’s Best of 2022 returns! Our annual librarian-curated selection of titles features some of the titles most requested and checked out by Oak Parkers. See some of our favorite TV shows, movies, and music on this page or browse more using the links below. Adult fiction: General | Adult fiction: Romance, lives & relationships | Adult fiction: Mystery, history & sci-fi | Adult nonfiction | Teen fiction | Kids books | Picture books | TV shows | Movies | … Read more

Honoring Transgender Day of Remembrance

Transgender Day of Remembrance Idea Box display in the Main Library

Extended: ‘Gender Is a Galaxy, Gender Is a Weapon’ This Idea Box exhibit has been extended to hold space for mourning and to honor the victims of the shooting that took place on November 19 at Club Q, an LGBTQ Nightclub in Colorado Springs. One day before Transgender Day of Remembrance, a shooter attacked Club … Read more

National Book Awards & readalikes 2022

WINNERS written in all caps above a collage of book covers

Check out the 2022 National Book Awards winners and our readalike title suggestions, curated by Oak Park’s fantastically well-read librarians! The National Book Awards were established in 1950 to celebrate the best writing in America. Learn more about how the awards work from the National Book Foundation » Winners & readalikes

Tech Tips: How to use Consumer Reports

Two older adults laughing while using a laptop and holding a credit card

By Rose Barnes, Health & Senior Services Librarian Are you thinking about buying a new car, appliance, gadget, or literally anything else, but feeling overwhelmed or not sure where to start? Consumer Reports is designed to help you navigate all of the options and narrow down products based on consumer tests and reviews. Their goal … Read more

Tech Tips: How to get started with PressReader

A screenshot of the PressReader app on a phone, with the PressReader logo

By John Gargiulo, Supervising Librarian of Creative Technology Interested in a convenient way to read newspapers on your phone? With access to more than 7,000 publications from around the world in their original language and format, PressReader is a helpful tool. This post will cover some basics that will help you get started with PressReader. Here are five … Read more

Barbara Ballinger Lecture 2022: ‘The Billboard’ readalikes

Author Natalie Moore with her book The Billboard, the Barbara Ballinger Lecture logo and the Friends of the Library logo

By Collection Management Librarian Dontaná Each fall we gather to celebrate and recognize former head librarian Barbara Ballinger and her many years of dedicated service to the library and to Oak Park. Sponsored by the Friends of the Oak Park Public Library, this year’s Barbara Ballinger Lecture features a lecture and Q&A with author and WBEZ Journalist Natalie … Read more

Meet Jabez: ‘I want all my programs to be community-forward’

Jabez Patterson sits at a table outside the Main Library

We’ve got some fantastic programs for adults coming up this fall, thanks to Jabez Patterson, Programming Librarian in Adult Services. Jabez, who joined the library in January, collaborates with local authors, musicians, and more to bring high-quality virtual and in-person programs to the library. He’s guided by community interests as well as his own—which include … Read more

‘More Than You’ll Ever Know’: Waiting for it? Loved it? Try these titles!

More Than You'll Ever Know book cover on leaf background

By Collection Management Librarian Kathy I love how much our community uses the library. Sometimes that means waiting for the hottest titles. Don’t fret! I can help you find a similar reading experience to THAT book you are waiting for or that you finally read and loved. More Than You’ll Ever Know readalikes An evocative … Read more

Celebrity book club round-up, August 2022

Celebrity Book Clubs: Read with the Stars

By Collection Management Librarian Dontaná Since Oprah’s first book club pick in 1996, we have been reading as the celebrities do, falling in love with, or hating, characters with our fellow book club readers. Book clubs offer an opportunity to be in community with others, even if we’re not together in person.  Other celebrities who … Read more

Relevant reads: Pandemic novels & short stories 2022

An illustration of a crowd of people wearing masks

By Collection Management Librarian Dontaná From the plague to the 1918 influenza to now, pandemics have been unwelcome members of society. Touching everyone and everything, global sickness and the changes we have to make to get through makes us anxious and sends us looking for an escape. No wonder we turn to fiction that explores … Read more

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