Best of the Best: Adults

• Top 10
• Best Books

Best of the Best: Teens

For teens in high school

• Teen Fiction
• Teen Nonfiction
• Teen Graphic Novels and Manga

Best of the Best: Kids

• Board Books: For kids from birth to preschool
• Picture Books: For kids from birth to third grade
• Fiction for Younger Readers: For kids in kindergarten through third grade
• Informational Books for Younger Readers: For kids in kindergarten through third grade
• Libros en español: Para niños desde el nacimiento hasta el tercer grado
• Fiction for Older Readers: For kids in third through eighth grade
• Informational Books for Older Readers: For kids in third through eighth grade

Past Best of the Best Selections

• Adults Best of the Best
• Teens Best of the Best
• Kids Best of the Best

There will also be fun hands-on activities, a raffle for great prizes and free lunch. For ages 14-22. Register at the links below.

Business and Entrepreneurship
1 p.m. Saturday, January 20 at Whitney M. Young Jr. Branch

Writing, Communications and Media
1 p.m. Saturday, March 16 at Edgewater Branch

Health Sciences
1 p.m. Saturday, July 13 at Chinatown Branch

Computer Science and Engineering
1 p.m. Saturday, September 21 at Austin Branch

Visual Arts, Gaming and Graphic Design
1 p.m. Saturday, November 16 at Harold Washington Library Center

The November 28, 2023 meeting of the Chicago Public Library Board of Directors will be hosted in person at the Blackstone Library, 4904 S. Lake Park . Entry into the branch will be granted at 8:45 a.m.

Public Comment

• Written statements are the preferred method of public comment and will be accepted up to 24 hours in advance of the meeting at ebjones@chipublib.org.
• Members of the public and staff that attend the meeting in person will be granted an opportunity to speak towards the end of the meeting.
• Selected speakers will be provided with up to 2 minutes of comment.

Agenda

November 28, 2023, 9:00 a.m.

Blackstone, 4904 S. Lake Park Ave

1. Welcome to the Blackstone Library (info only)
2. Approval of minutes for the May 16, 2023 and October 11, 2023 meetings (action required)
3. 2024 Board of Directors Meeting Schedule (action required)
4. Administration and Finance Report (info only)
5. Policy Recommendation Re: Library Card Replacement Fee (action required)
6. Policy Recommendation Re: CPL Equity Policy (action required)
7. Budget Update/Kelly Fund Approval (action required)
8. Programming Update (info only)
9. Operations and Facilities Report (info only)
10. Commissioner’s Report (info only)
    • The Obama Branch: Find Your Voice and Bring Change Home
    • Fostering Equity in Neighborhood Library Staffing
    • Enhancing the Chicago Public Library Experience
11. Chicago Public Library Foundation Report (info only)
12. Other Business
13. Public Comment

Next Board meeting: TBA

Adults

• Top 10
• Our Favorite Books of 2023
• Our Guide to the Must-Read Books of 2023:
  • Fiction
  • Fantasy, Horror and Sci-fi
  • Mystery and Thriller
  • Romance
  • Nonfiction
  • Biography and Memoir

Teens

For teens in high school.

• Teen Fiction
• Teen Nonfiction
• Teen Graphic Novels and Manga

Kids

• Board and Picture Books: For kids from birth to third grade
• Fiction for Younger Readers: For kids in kindergarten through third grade
• Informational Books for Younger Readers: For kids in kindergarten through third grade
• Libros en español: Para niños desde el nacimiento hasta el tercer grado
• Fiction for Older Readers: For kids in third through eighth grade
• Informational Books for Older Readers: For kids in third through eighth grade

Past Selections

• Adults Best of the Best
• Teens Best of the Best
• Kids Best of the Best

Visit the Third Floor Gallery at Harold Washington Library Center to see Our Path/Nuestro Camino, an exhibit featuring artworks by Latinx artists. In collaboration with the Latinx Services Committee, this exhibit explores the journey that speaks to the individual yet also unites a people aesthetically and culturally.

The selected works depict the ever-expanding vastness of “Our Path,” including intergalactic travelers, folklore reimagined and figures on the cusp of transition. As you view the exhibit, you’re invited to reflect on what it means to be on a path for you individually and your community.

The following artists contributed work for this exhibit:

A graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Juan Carlos Baez has been exhibiting in various parts of the United States, Puerto Rico, and other parts of the world since 1991. His fine artwork deals with the surreal, the spiritual and the scientific, mixed with elements of science fiction and pop culture, and combined with an interest in exploring cultural identity and social issues.

Carlos Carmona is a Chicago-based Mexican painter whose life has always been surrounded with art. He grew up watching his dad paint murals at home, surrounded by these works and images from the greatest Hispanic artists like Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. His three pieces in this exhibit are part of a series of 16 paintings, titled Xolo Yo, where he pays homage to his father and the story of the Xoloitzcuintli, a traditional breed of Mexican dog once believed to serve as a guide to the Underworld.

A native of Bogotá, Colombia, Angela Alvarez draws from the currents of expressionism, surrealism, and the rich tapestry of Latin American poetry to weave a poetic language entirely her own. Inspired by the ebb and flow of the natural world, her creations mirror the intricate patterns and rhythms found in the environment.

Marimacha Monarca Press is a queer & trans people of color collective of artists and educators based on the southside of Chicago since 2017. Marimacha Monarca Press provides workshops in printmaking, seed paper making, piñata making, and zine-making as a means of self-publication, communication, and reflection.

Featured members:

• Marimacha Monarca Press co-founder Sarita Hernández is an arts educator, oral historian, and print/zinemaker from salvadoréxican Califas based in Chicago. They are interested in artistic interventions with the historical archive and imagining alternative forms of social documentation, preservation, and activation of everyday histories, survivals, and resistances. They make queer vegan pies in their DIY artist project @pleasurepies shop, rasquache prints, and sad boi zines.
• Selva Zafiro Luna is an interdisciplinary artist + educator. Their practice integrates print media, garment design, word + symbol to highlight queer opulence. As an educator they've worked in schools across Chicago for more than a decade. Selva also is co-founder of Marimacha Monarcha Press.
• Jose Rosa is a queer boricua Graphic Designer, Digital Artist, Screen Printer and DJ who seeks to break the rules of art + design to help build a more equitable space for those who relate with being “the other”. As a creative they create a visual vocabulary by using typography and digital arts as a tool for queer resistance.
• Chicago Southside-based artist and educator David Escobedo has an eclectic art practice ranging from illustration, graphic design, printmaking, and mask making. Central themes within his work delve into their identity as a queer Latinx and migrant.

Our Path/Nuestro Camino will be on display at Harold Washington Library Center in the Third Floor Exhibit Gallery from October 4, 2023 to February 11, 2024.

Chicago Public Library’s Native and Indigenous Allies Committee invite all to learn about and celebrate our Native and Indigenous neighbors in Chicago, the Midwest and all over. Join CPL as we celebrate Native and Indigenous peoples here now, here always.

Land Acknowledgement  

The City of Chicago is located on the land that is and has long been a center for Native peoples. The area is the traditional homelands of the Anishinaabe, or the Council of the Three Fires: Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations. Many other Nations consider this area their traditional homeland, including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo, and Mascouten. The City specifically acknowledges the contributions of Kitihawa of the Potawatomi in fostering the community that has become Chicago. We acknowledge all Native peoples who came before us and who continue to contribute to our city. We are committed to promoting Native cultural heritage.  

Events

All are invited to attend events throughout CPL locations in addition to events for this season’s One Book, One Chicago selection, There There by Tommy Orange.

Featured Events

Voices for Justice: 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, Muscogee (Creek) Nation
6 p.m. Wednesday, November 29
Harold Washington Library Center

Learn Cherokee With Mango Languages
6:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 07
Online, registration required

Let's Talk About Music: Elisapie
6:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 15
Online, registration required

Kids and Families

Storyteller Mama Edie Celebrates Native American Heritage
4 p.m. Thursday, November 16
Wrightwood-Ashburn Branch

Cereal Killers: Tween Cooking Club (Making Fry Bread)
2 p.m. Saturday, November 25
Avalon Branch

Adult Book Discussions

 The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson
6 p.m. Tuesday, November 14
Lozano Branch

Killers of the Flower Moon
6 p.m. Wednesday, November 15
Avalon Branch

Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo
11:30 a.m. Thursday, November 16
This event takes place by phone and especially welcomes patrons with print disabilities. To register, please call (312) 747-4001.

The Road Back to Sweetgrass by Linda LeGarde Grover
11 a.m. Saturday, November 18
Harold Washington Library Center

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
1 p.m. Saturday, November 18
Uptown Branch

Film Screenings

First Nations Film and Video Festival
1 p.m. Saturday, November 4
Humboldt Park Branch

Indian Horse (2017)
1 p.m. Saturday, November 11
West Chicago Avenue Branch

Slash/Back (2022)
5 p.m. Thursday, November 16
West Chicago Avenue Branch

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World (2017)
2 p.m. Friday, November 17
Harold Washington Library Center           

Short Film: Native American Heritage Documentaries
1 p.m. Saturday, November 18
West Pullman Branch

Coloring Page

Print the Native American Heritage Month coloring page by Caitlin Newago, Bad River Ojibwe Mixed Media Artist.

Caitlin Newago is a mother, artist and tribal member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. Founded in 2016, Caitlin Newago started Bizaanide’ewin at only 21 years old. An artist from birth, she has dabbled in many mediums throughout her life. Learning this craft at only 8 years old, she is also a beader, and incorporates that knowledge into her work. Currently, she is focusing on modernizing traditional Ojibwe designs in digital art. She also uses wiigwaas (birchbark) and porcupine quills as a way to reconnect with her Anishinaabe culture and learn more of her traditions. She hopes to share this knowledge and is actively searching for opportunities to do so. Creating these pieces and reconnecting with her passion for art has been a vital part of her healing journey. She hopes she can promote this healing and connect with and uplift other survivors in the process. Bizaanide’ewin is an Ojibwe word, meaning peace of heart. This word very clearly illustrates the purpose and mission of Caitlin’s work. The intergenerational trauma within Native communities is ravaging the traditional ways of life. In her own journey, she is addressing these traumas and working to break the cycle- leading to peace of heart not only within herself, but those around her and impacted by her work. Caitlin is growing primarily via online presences on numerous social media platforms, but also is becoming more involved in community events.

Reading Recommendations

• Native American Heritage Month Reads for Kids
• Native American Heritage Month Reads for Teens 2023
• Native American Heritage Month Reads 2023
• Native American Poetry

This two-day exhibition event will take place at the Uptown Branch (November 11-13) and Chinatown Branch (November 19-20). The Uptown exhibit will also feature a Sunday reception on November 12. Each weekend installation will be staffed by volunteers from the Chicago Hong Konger Community Center, where visitors can ask questions about the history of Zunzi’s work and look at original copies of the now-closed Apple Daily newspaper. 

Zunzi’s lighthearted satirical works, published daily in major Hong Kong newspapers, chronicled the social and political lives of a city as a British crown colony and later under Chinese rule, as Hong Kong increasingly faced political and cultural encroachments from China. Following substantial government pressure, the last remaining Hong Kong newspaper to carry Zunzi’s works stopped printing them in May 2023.

Across the world and throughout the United States, censorship threatens our collective freedom to read, learn and think critically. Just this year, Governor J. B. Pritzker signed a bill making Illinois the first US state to prohibit banning books. Chicago Public Library is committed to rejecting censorship and the political repression of free speech in all forms. We are excited to platform Zunzi’s story and work as part of our ongoing celebration of the freedom to read.

Art Under China's Red Line: Satire by Zunzi Exhibit Dates

Uptown Branch

Installation November 11-13, with a reception from 2 - 4 p.m. on November 12.

Chinatown Branch

Installation November 19-20.

Small collections of decodable books are easy to browse at the following locations:

• • Beverly
  • Harold Washington Library Center
  • Legler Regional
  • Lincoln Park
  • McKinley Park
  • Rogers Park
  • Sulzer Regional
  • West Town
  • Woodson Regional

Want to learn more about the process of learning to read? Check out our online resources:

• What's Happening When You Learn to Read? Guest blogger Kait Feriante from Redwood Literacy explains what happens in your brain as you learn to read.
• Resources to Support Learning to Read: Find more ways to help a child who is learning how to read.
• Jump Into a Decodable Book: Learn how decodable books work to help readers and find some at CPL!

Get involved with the library this spring by applying to one of our upcoming internships, starting in early 2024.

Applications open October 23. Find the date and full description of each program below. Age requirements vary by internship - more information available in each application.

College and Career Saturdays Internship

• January 15 - December 15, 2024
• Develop your photography and emcee skills.

Apply for the College and Career Saturdays Internship
Deadline extended to November 13.

Chicago Teen Gamers Guild

• January 8 – June 29, 2024

Get paid to plan the next Gamer’s Universe Gaming Convention! Teens can choose from one of the following guilds:

Esports

• • • Design and run game tournaments and other gaming experiences.
    • Meetings: Tuesdays at Harold Washington Library Center (400 S. State Street).

Cosplay

• • • Create a cosplay look, design and host workshops and more.
    • Meetings: Wednesdays at Harold Washington Library Center (400 S. State Street).

Con Planning

• • • Work with partners and artists, plan interactive con experiences, design marketing materials and collaborate with the team to set the overall vibe of GU.
    • Meetings: Thursdays at Harold Washington Library Center (400 S. State Street).

Experiential Game Design

• • • Work as a team to create an escape room, scavenger hunt, murder mystery, or other interactive game to be shared at Gamers Universe 2024.
    • Meetings: at Back of the Yards, Dunning, Humboldt Park, Little Village, Little Italy, South Shore and Woodson Regional (see application for exact meeting dates by location).

The application deadline has passed.

Teen Digital Content Internship

• January 11 – June 28, 2024
• Transform your social media skills into real world experience and create engaging content that matters to teens.
• Meetings: Thursdays and some Saturdays at Harold Washington Library Center (400 S. State Street).

The application deadline has passed.

Teen BOTB Internship

• February 10 – December 14, 2024
• Get paid to read and rant about your favorite books of the year for CPL's Best of the Best. Record book talks and meet monthly to create the ultimate annual book list.
• Meetings: Every second Saturday of the month, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. at Harold Washington Library Center YOUmedia (400 S. State Street).

The application deadline has passed.

Kids in grades 3 to 8 are invited to an "Agent Academy" after school science club series in which they'll learn about and take part in creating encrypted and secret messages, catapults, Mentos mayhem and more! 

Part I will take place October 23 through December 11. Stay tuned for Part II in spring 2024. 

Kids and families who take part in the CPL Science Clubs series are invited to take a field trip by chartered bus to the STEAM Family Day at the Museum of Science and Industry on Saturday, December 2. Ask your librarian for details.

Want to read more about the topics explored in these hands-on workshops? You can Read Like a Spy! Be sure to check out our ScienceConnections programs for kids, too.

Learn more by contacting Children's Services and Family Engagement by phone, (312) 747-4780, or email, story@chipublib.org.

CPL's Out-of-School-Time Science Club program series made possible with gratitude to a partnership with the Museum of Science and Industry.