Library Blog

EPL awarded nearly $40,000 from Illinois Secretary of State to support STEM equity in Evanston

September 5, 2023

EVANSTON, IL. – The Evanston Public Library is pleased to announce it has been awarded a grant from the office of Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias to support its equity work in science, technology, engineering and math programming.  On August 25, Illinois Secretary of State and State Librarian Alexi Giannoulias announced that he has […]

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Evanston City Clerk Stephanie Mendoza and EPL start babies on the path to literacy with Welcome Baby kits

May 17, 2023

EVANSTON, IL — Literacy starts early in Evanston, thanks in part to a new joint initiative between the Evanston Public Library and the office of Evanston City Clerk Stephanie Mendoza. Since the start of 2023, new parents requesting birth certificates for their newborns from the Evanston City Clerk’s office have been gifted a Welcome Baby […]

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EPL names Listen to the Language of the Trees winner of the 2022 Blueberry Award

March 24, 2023

The Evanston Public Library has named Listen to the Language of the Trees:  A Story of How Trees Communicate Underground by Tera Kelley and illustrated by Marie Hermansson the winner of the second annual Blueberry Award.  The Blueberry Awards honor children’s literature that strengthens kids’ connections with nature and fosters action for the planet. The […]

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Summer Learning, Reading, and Engagement

March 1, 2023

Our goals with a community-based summer outreach program are to:  Help children, teens and adults build a habit of reading; Increase outreach to systematically racially impacted neighborhoods, including the 5th, 8th, and 9th Wards; Connect Evanstonians with access to and awareness of  library services in places where they gather, not just at our library buildings. […]

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Digitally Desegregating Evanston: Rediscovering and Reclaiming a Shared Past

March 1, 2023

In 2022, EPL began a project called Digitally Desegregating Evanston: Rediscovering and Reclaiming a Shared Past. EPL began the process of digitizing its collection of the entire Evanston Review from 1872 through today, and the Newsette, the most important Black weekly paper in Evanston, which began in 1941 and was released periodically through the 1980’s. […]

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Community Service and Connectivity

March 1, 2023

Being connected to the broader community is key to feeling a part of your world, to feeling valued and respected. EPL is committed to creating authentic, deep relationships within the entire community. One way we have been doing this is through developing a dynamic and diverse staff that reflects the community around us and focuses […]

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Curating a Diverse Collection

March 1, 2023

EPL’s collection of materials, both physical and digital, is the heart of our work. Our collection spans more than 331,000 books and countless digital media, from children’s to adult, biographies to science fiction, and hard cover to e-magazines. It also spans two locations, the Main Library branch on Church Street, and the Robert Crown Library […]

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 Black Cultural Arts and Storytelling Initiative

March 1, 2023

This summer, in support of increasing Black cultural arts and storytelling at EPL, we are co-hosting a performance of 1619: The Journey of a People – A Musical by Ted Williams III. As stated on their website, “The multi-disciplinary theater experience of 1619: The Journey of a People is expressed through three modern characters in […]

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Borrow a birdwatching kit and find a bufflehead

January 5, 2023

You might not think winter is a good time to look for birds but while colorful warblers have headed south, ducks of all sorts are spending the winter right in our neighborhood. Northwestern University and the lakeshore are great places to see diving ducks like Buffleheads, pictured above.  Buffleheads are small chubby ducks with a […]

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Evanston Public Library’s 101 Great Books for Kids 2022: Picture Books

November 21, 2022

Picture Books A Bear, a Bee, and a Honey Tree by Daniel Bernstrom, ill. Brandon James Scott Fuzzy bear. Angry bees. Yummy honey. Silliness abounds in this delightful read aloud full of ursine hijinks.Call Number: JPicture Berns.D Berry Song by Michaela Goade Like their Tlingit ancestors before them, a grandmother and child gather gifts from […]

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Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.

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