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"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart." - Nelson Mandela

You’ve most likely heard all the reasons.

By learning another language you will:

• Improve your job prospects in a global market
• Learn about another culture
• Sharpen your mind
• Have more fun on a trip
• Make new friends
• Impress your old friends – maybe even your kids

Whatever your reason, we have resources that can help and even make it fun!

Continue Reading "Why learn another language?" →

January 19th is an exciting day for readers of Mystery and Suspense Fiction. What happens every January 19th?  I'll give you a hint.  Each year, this event falls on the birthday of the undisputed "Father of the Detective Story" (think beating hearts and ravens). 

Yes, it's the annual announcement of the Edgar Award Nominees, named after Edgar Allen Poe, and honoring the previous year's best Mystery and Suspense.

Continue Reading "What Happens Every January 19th?  It’s a Mystery!" →

Over the past few years you may have noticed many changes on the 2nd floor of the library. The Youth Services department is in the middle of an enormous, multi-year project bringing you some new and some improved spaces. Beginning in March of this year we burst apart our old Storytime Room to create a much larger and more flexible space we now call the Program Room. Remember how packed that small Storytime Room would get?

Continue Reading "Re-imagining Spaces" →

This fall Des Plaines resident Jill Morgenthaler's new book, The Courage to Take Command: Leadership Lessons from a Military Trailblazer was published by McGraw-Hill.

For several years Colonel Jill Morgenthaler (ret.) has been a familiar face in the library, using our study rooms and wireless Internet access to work on her book about leadership. Jill takes over thirty years of military experience and develops a practical leadership guide. With chapter headings like, 'Not everyone wants you to succeed', 'Charm is a verb' "Dealing with Bullies' and 'How to Survive Unreasonable People', I can’t wait to read it.

Continue Reading "Books with a Des Plaines Connection" →

'Tis the season and all that.  Some of us love it and are natural  holiday merrymakers. Some of us just kind of, well you know.... hate it.  For you bah-humbuggers the holidays can be hard, but DPPL can help. Here are four ways to put a little more 'happy' in your holiday.

Continue Reading "Holidays are hard.  DPPL’s got 4 ways to make them easier" →