That's a WRAP!

2011 was a year of great gifts for the Des Plaines Public Library Youth Services Department. We were able to do some moving, some rearranging, some purchasing of new furniture; all to help make your visits to the Youth Services Department more accessible and enjoyable. Many of our collections have been consolidated, expanded, or moved to new locations to better serve you and we have some exciting new things we hope you will enjoy.

Some of these new developments you can see for yourself. The first thing you may notice when you next visit the 2nd floor is the new wall of magazines on display. Where this wall used to hold only the most current issue of your favorite kids magazines, now all the issues are right there, ready to go home with you. Each magazine has its own container so they are easy to locate. Magazines are great for trips to the grocery store, rides in the car, or any time.

Make sure you check out the new and improved Holiday collection. What does it mean if there is no shadow on Groundhog Day? Want to make a great Hanukkah potato latke? Need a good story to share with your child's class at the Chinese New Year? It's so easy to find the answers with newly arranged shelves that are clearly labeled and books identified with holiday stickers.

We got some new chairs! They are bright, sturdy, attractive, and mobile. Both adults and children who have had an opportunity to sit in them comment on how nice and comfortable they are.

When asked if they liked the new chairs, this group of boys answered, "Yeah."

Another addition is our beautiful new LEGO table

outfitted with duplo blocks, perfect for little hands and big imaginations. Imaginative play is an essential part of building early literacy skills. Come play at the table with your young children and create buildings or animals or anything you wish. This memorial table was made possible in part by a generous gift from the family of former library staff and Youth Services team member Judy Reiss, who passed away in 2010.

There is a new section just for Graphic Novels, new shelving for movies and music in the Foreign Language collection, the audio books on CD have moved and expanded, and there's so much more!

We give many thanks to the pages of the Circulation Department who planned and plotted and dusted and measured and moved so many items. We also give many thanks to the Technical Services Department staff who re-moved, re-cataloged, and re-stickered so much of our collection. And I want to thank the staff of the Youth Services Department who worked hard, organized projects, communicated with other departments, waited (mostly) patiently, and celebrated the gifts we were given this year.

Please come and visit us at the library soon to see the many additions and changes that have come to the department in 2011. Have a happy New Year, and we will look forward to seeing you and dreaming up more new projects for the library in 2012.