Blog

Many of you have felt a conspicuous absence among the 4th floor staff lately.

In fact, our dear colleague and friend Steven Giese died last month.

Steven was a Reference librarian here for many years.

He was a gifted researcher, but more importantly, Steven was infinitely kind and patient.

Not only did patrons receive the information they wanted, Steven had a way about him that made people feel respected. 

He made people feel that they belonged.

Continue Reading "A Death in the Family" →

Sunday, May 1st is International Workers’ Day.

In the United States, we celebrate Labor Day in September. In other countries around the world, May 1st is recognized as a day of celebration and advocacy for workers’ rights.

On May 1st, 1886, hundreds of thousands of workers across the globe held a general strike for an eight-hour workday.

Days later, a bloody conflict at a rally in Chicago’s Haymarket Square shook the labor movement and the country.

To commemorate these events, May 1st was declared International Workers’ Day in 1889.

Continue Reading "Sunday, May 1st is International Workers’ Day" →

The world is captivated and saddened by the daily horror of the war in Ukraine.

To gain a better understanding of what led to this conflict, we've compiled a list of books and other resources the library has to offer.

And as we all know, people still in Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees in neighboring countries are in dire need of supplies and other assistance.

At the end of the resource list are suggestions for ways to help the humanitarian effort to bring aid to the victims.

Continue Reading "The Conflict in Ukraine: How to Understand It & How to Help" →

For the scond year in a row Des Plaines Public Library has been named one of America’s Star Libraries on the 2021 Library Journal Index of Public Services.

This award places DPPL in the top 4% of libraries nationwide. DPPL is one of just 261 libraries across the country and 15 in the state of Illinois awarded this designation.  5,846 public libraries nationwide were surveyed in the 2021 report.

This comes at a time when DPPL's 2021 circulation has just surpassed over 1 million items, an 18% increase from 2020 at this time.

Continue Reading "Proud to Be Your Star Library" →

The Readers’ Services team is so excited to announce the theme for our 2022 Winter Reading initiative...The Read Less Traveled!  

What does that mean? 

A “read less traveled” is a book that transports you to a new place, country, or culture. 

Reading translated works and international authors is a great way to learn about other cultures—and maybe even discover a favorite new author. 

We can’t wait to hear about the new books and authors you discover!  

So, how can you participate? 

Continue Reading "Winter Reading Ends March 6th" →