Blog

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. 

Continue Reading "The Fourth Floor: Where Work and Entertainment Meet" →

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.

Continue Reading "Textbook Travail?" →

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" →