Posted in Spotlight

Spotlight

The Fourth Floor: Where Work and Entertainment Meet

Non-Fiction
The walk up the stairs at the Des Plaines library starts with the bustling first floor customer service area.

As you move up and land on the second floor there is a burst of color of the youth and children's materials.

Keep on going to the third floor and you are entering the adult world of make-believe, also known as fiction.

One more floor and you've arrived at the fourth floor. Non-fiction lives here. 

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Spotlight

Textbook Travail?

For those of us who work at the Reference desk (fourth-floor public desk), this is not an uncommon phone, email or in-person question around the start of any given semester.

Mostly from college students, but there's the occasional one in high school.

It's a subject that can cause substantial panic.

As a public library, we don't own much in the way of textbooks. The good news, however, is that we can steer you to other places that do.

It's a competitive industry, and textbooks sites can offer a range of options: buy a new or used copy. Or, rent one.

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Des Plaines Memory

A Death in the Family

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

Steven Giese

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.

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Spotlight

Sunday, May 1st is International Workers’ Day

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.

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