Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winners and Honor Titles Since 2001

December 14, 2021

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. The award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and honors his wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.


Evanston History, or, Everyone Old Is New Again

August 2, 2021

Recently I was curious to see how Evanston looked a mere 50 years ago, back to August of 1971. After digging through copies of The Evanston Review, what I found was both incredibly familiar and uncommonly strange, all at the same time. Stuff like . . . “A regular review of topical news and issues […]


Book Talk and Chatter: Podcasts for Literature Lovers

February 28, 2019

It’s no secret that podcasts are now the radio of the 21st century. Even if you don’t know someone who actually runs one, then you may subscribe to a couple on the sly. My phone’s podcast app is regularly filled with episodes I should check out, even as others fade from my mind. If you […]


And Now For Everyone’s Favorite Game: What’s That In the Dropbox?

October 26, 2018

A library is a depository for books. That is common knowledge. Any child could tell you as much. But as it happens, libraries also receive an untold number of items that have nothing at all to do with literature. Case in point out latest donation. It’s big. It’s red. It features an outdated form of […]


Better Late Than Never

September 13, 2018

About ten years ago I was working as a New York City librarian, doing my due diligence in a massive system. My first job was in the Jefferson Market branch, a gorgeous structure that began its days as a women’s courthouse (Mae West was tried there, amongst many others). When it was turned into a […]


The Permanence of Paper

March 16, 2018

Roughly ten years ago I worked for New York Public Library. 2008 was, as you might recall, a year of great economic strife thanks in large part to the housing market crash. The ways in which libraries responded to this emergency varied from state to state, but in the case of NYPL there was one […]


Better Late Than Never

March 8, 2017

We’ve all had those books that we forgot to return to the library at one time or another.  Some of you may know all too well the plummeting sensation of clearing out your bookshelves, only to discover a library book sitting there, glaring at you from its dusty hidey hole. But what do you do […]


And Now . . . The Most Interesting Unexpected Donation of 2017 and a Mystery

January 11, 2017

When I walk in the door Monday morning I am greeted by a flood of donations that have appeared, mysteriously, in my absence.  They are in piles in the bins, overflowing the sides.  Two good-natured volunteers are also usually there, panning for gold, as it were.  They’ll fill up a nice little cart and I’ll […]


The Review So Interesting You’ll Have to Read the Book

April 20, 2016

I don’t usually do this.  As the Collection Development Manager I end up reading a lot of reviews in professional journals in a given week.  After a while they all just sort of blur together.  But once in a great while I’ll read one that’s so interesting I feel like I just have to share. […]


This Just In (Circa 1933)

March 14, 2016

Last week a patron sent us the following postcard last week. Note the 1933 date stamp: According to Assistant Library Director Paul Gottschalk, “In the 1900’s, EPL had several branches in public schools throughout Evanston.” The more you know!


Translate »