Category: Personal heroes
-
A New Day at NMDL
Today marks an important day in the Niles-Maine District Library story. Things are in motion. Throughout the terrible time after the Drblik-Makula-Schoenfeldt-Hanusiak board took control, the department heads stayed stable. Despite the disparagement they received from the Board, and the constant threat of service, program and personnel cuts, they knew their staff and patrons were…
-
The staff who stayed
I have the pleasure of posting a public comment made at the April 2023 Niles-Maine District Library Board meeting. The author, Pat Ansuini, began at the library as a page, and I remember being struck by her eloquence at a staff day. Each department was asked to write positive comments about another department, and Pat…
-
Miss Loretta
When I began working in the Children’s Department at the Niles Public Library many years ago, Miss Loretta was already 75 years old. She looked like the classic “little old lady” because she was small and had wrinkles, but that twinkle in her eye, that spring in her step, that youthful outlook in life made…
-
Seraj Library Project
Here is a bright spot in an otherwise pretty grim landscape when it comes to Palestine and Israel. The Seraj Library Project has been working for 15 years to build libraries for children in the West Bank. The little libraries–12 now–provide peaceful havens for their communities, where daily life under occupation is incredibly challenging. I…
-
Context and understanding
Almost every day, our dog Mac gets taken for a walk in the park, and aside from someone knocking at the door, it is pretty much the most exciting thing in his life. While on his journey, squirrels are of the utmost interest to Mac–you could offer him the tastiest treat ever and he would…
-
James Gordon Dove, or, Why Writing Matters
I finally had the chance over the long Thanksgiving weekend to look at a stack of old photographs. It left me curiously disoriented, because they went through such a wide range of times and places and moments in my life. By the way, one consistent thing was that my hair looked pretty great in all…
Something Different Every Day 