Celebrating Seniors Week 2025

Older adults talking and enjoying coffee at the library

Spring is here, so it’s time again for Celebrating Seniors Week! Held this year from May 8 to 15, the weeklong celebration is dedicated to honoring, recognizing, and serving seniors in Oak Park, River Forest, and Forest Park. Celebrating Seniors Week is sponsored by the Celebrating Seniors Coalition, an organization dedicated to uplifting and advocating for older … Read more

Want to protect libraries? Here’s what you can do

Show up For Our Libraries

We’re asking our community to stand up for libraries everywhere because the federal government is moving to cut off its modest but effective support for libraries, from withdrawal of funding for broadband to the elimination of the only source of federal funding for our nation’s 125,000 libraries, the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Watch: Spreading … Read more

National Poetry Month

Collage of book, album, and movie covers, see titles listed below

By Collection Management Librarians Dontaná & Andrea Poetry is good for our brains. Studies show that reading poems activates our brain’s cognitive functions differently than when we read novels and other nonfiction. Poetry helps us recognize rhymes and rhythms, and expands our “capacity to understand complex, multiple meanings.” This National Poetry Month, we’ve paired poetry collections … Read more

Celebrating Arab American heritage

Collage of book covers featured below

Your public library is here with books, resources, and experiences that can help us connect and celebrate Arab American history and culture. The month of April is recognized as Arab American Heritage Month in Illinois. Title suggestions for all ages More to explore Celebration event Arab American Heritage CelebrationSaturday, April 12, 12-3 pm, Main Library … Read more

Transgender Day of Visibility: Books, virtual tutorials & more resources

Transgender Day of Visibility text with a blue, pink, and white striped flag in the background

Held each year on March 31, Transgender Day of Visibility (TDoV) celebrates the lives and accomplishments of transgender and nonbinary people. Trans advocate Rachel Crandall founded TDoV in 2010 because stories in the media about transgender and nonbinary people so often focus only on violence. As legislation across the country continues to target and discriminate … Read more

Honoring women’s history

Collage of book covers

Your public library is here to connect us through books, resources, and experiences that celebrate women’s history. Browse titles we suggest More from your digital library Register now to attend events Illinois Libraries Present: Exploring Space With Coralie AdamTuesday, March 4, 7 pm, virtual Get an inside look at the space industry with Illinois’ own Coralie … Read more

Book Club Kits: 10 copies, one great discussion

Shelf with black tote bags labeled Book Club Kit

Did you know the library has a curated section of Book Club Kits? These are pre-assembled bags with 10 copies of the same popular title, discussion questions curated by Oak Park librarians, and lists of similar titles for book groups. Each bag can be placed on hold by an individual Oak Park cardholder and is checked … Read more

Connecting you to Black history, then & now

Collage of book covers

Your public library is here with books, resources, and experiences that can help us connect and celebrate Black history and culture. Browse titles we suggest More to explore View exhibits Art Exhibit: Stories My Camera Tells by Howard SimmonsThrough February 22, Main Library Gallery Still photography tells its stories through captured moments in time. Stories told with … Read more

Ways to watch Oscar-nominated films

Collage of Oscar-nominated films

The countdown to the big night has begun! The 97th Academy Awards airs on Sunday, March 2, and your library has a few ways to watch some of the year’s most talked-about films. Join us: Register for our 15th Annual Oscarthon No need to wait on the red carpet—come to our 15th Annual Oscarthon movie … Read more

Celebrity book club round-up, January 2025

Read with the stars text with sparkling stars and a book collage above

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 love to read have started … Read more

Honoring MLK Day: Books, a display, resources & more

Martin Luther King Jr. leaning on a podium at a press conference, alongside a collage of book covers

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Monday, January 20), all library buildings will be closed. We’ve gathered together title suggestions, online resources, and more to help you celebrate the life and legacy of one of the best-known leaders of the civil rights movement. Check out these titles Contribute to a community ‘Dream Hands’ display As … Read more

Best of 2024: Adult fiction & nonfiction

Best of 2024: Adult fiction & nonfiction

Oak Park’s Best of 2024 is back! See our adult fiction and nonfiction staff favorites on this page or browse more using the links below. Adult fiction: General | Adult fiction: Romance, lives & relationships | Adult fiction: Thriller, graphic novel, sci-fi & fantasy | Adult nonfiction |Teen fiction & nonfiction | Kids books | Picture books | Movies & TV shows | Music Adult fiction: General All Fours by Miranda July … Read more

Best of 2024: Kids & picture books

Best of 2024: Kids & Picture Books

Oak Park’s Best of 2024 is back! See our kids and picture books staff favorites on this page or browse more using the links below. Adult fiction: General | Adult fiction: Romance, lives & relationships | Adult fiction: Thriller, graphic novel, sci-fi & fantasy | Adult nonfiction |Teen fiction & nonfiction | Kids books | Picture books | Movies & TV shows | Music Kids books Daggers of Ire by J.C. Cervantes … Read more

Best of 2024: Teen fiction & nonfiction

Best of 2024: Teen fiction & nonfiction

Oak Park’s Best of 2024 is back! See our teen fiction and nonfiction staff favorites on this page or browse more using the links below. Adult fiction: General | Adult fiction: Romance, lives & relationships | Adult fiction: Thriller, graphic novel, sci-fi & fantasy | Adult nonfiction |Teen fiction & nonfiction | Kids books | Picture books | Movies & TV shows | Music Teen fiction & nonfiction Creature: Paintings, Drawings & … Read more

Best of 2024: Movies, TV shows, & music

Best of 2024: Movies, music & more

Oak Park’s Best of 2024 is back! See some of our staff’s 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: Thriller, graphic novel, sci-fi & fantasy | Adult nonfiction |Teen fiction & nonfiction | Kids books | Picture books | Movies & TV shows | Music Movies & TV shows The … Read more

National Book Award Winners 2024

Book covers of the winners of the 75th National Book Awards

Check out the 2024 National Book Awards winners and our read-alike titles, suggested 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 » The winners & readalikes The winners

Gift Guide 2024

Gift Guide 2024 text with a gold gift box surrounded by gold bows and gold leaves

Looking for gift ideas for this holiday season? Might we suggest a great book? Our collection management librarians have gathered some of their favorite recently published titles that are sure to engage, educate, and inspire people of all ages! Adults | Teens & kids Adults: for the… Teens & kids: for the…

Transgender Awareness Week: Books & resources

Transgender flag drawn in chalk

This November 13-19, we celebrate Transgender Awareness Week, an annual event dedicated to educating our communities about the lives of transgender people. Transgender Awareness Week takes place in the week leading up to Transgender Day of Remembrance (November 20)—a day set aside to recognize each life lost during the year to transphobic violence around the … Read more