Library News

In a vibrant community initiative, the Addison Public Library’s Read and Write in Spanish class has made a significant impact on the lives of local residents, providing essential literacy skills in their primary language.

Addison resident Laura McPherson has been writing professionally for over a decade, balancing her writing skills between both fiction and nonfiction. By day, McPherson writes in a more corporate style; by night, she unleashes her creativity and focuses on personal projects. Her latest project, an experimental chapbook called inVISIBLE, was published in 2022 is now available to borrow at the Addison Public Library.

When Allen Polich first moved to Addison in the fall of 2020, he didn’t expect he’d become a regular visitor to the Addison Public Library. But after receiving the library’s newsletter and spotting an intriguing volunteer opportunity, everything changed.

Debbie Spacko’s story starts like many Americans: in April 2020, she was furloughed from her job as a customer service representative.

Rosa Biondo recalls going to her local library in Chicago as a child with her mother, who taught herself to read in English and wanted her children to be able to do the same. Now as a parent herself, Biondo has been finding joy in watching her son John, age 8, grow up with the Addison Public Library.

Judy Belanger has lived in Addison since 1965. In her 56 years living in Addison, she spent 30 of them serving on the Addison Public Library’s Board of Trustees.

Tania Viramontes has lived in Addison since she was just one year old and has been using the Addison Public Library for as long as she can remember. She has fond memories of visiting the first library building as a child.

Addison resident Taiwo Owoniyi is always working on something, whether it’s his art, his music, or his job as a CNA. But when he has the chance, he seeks out the library.

Rose Falcone, a resident of Addison for over 15 years, had been wondering what to do with her old 8mm and Super 8 film reels. Then one day, she opened the library’s March/April newsletter to find a promotion for the library’s film to digital converters, which she could use for free!

One of the hardest parts of operating a library during a pandemic is the missed human connections. But as the Addison Public Library has adapted since COVID-19, staff are finding new ways to connect with patrons and help in any way they can. One such connection was with resident Catherine Ryan, who has lived in Addison for nearly 60 years and has been a patron of the library since the very beginning.

One of the latest books on display at the Addison Public Library is the work of Addison resident Yusuf Keshavarzi, whose book Darkwood: Black Jaguar tells the story of a talented 13 year old boy in Toronto who gets recruited to work for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and in doing so, uncovers an evil plot. At just 13 years old himself, Keshavarzi has already demonstrated his talent as an author.

The Addison Public Library is one of the many libraries across the country that has its own makerspace or studio, where patrons can explore their crafty side and pick up a new hobby. For Addison resident Efua Asssan, the library’s Creative Studio was the perfect space for her to explore sewing, where she quickly breezed past the basics to design and sew her first custom skirt.