The St. Charles community is fortunate to have an abundance of beautiful public art. At the St. Charles Public Library, we are proud to display and support arts and culture. We have many unique pieces on display, including a vibrant quilt that depicts our city attractions, a historic 1898 grandfather clock and a beautiful watercolor painting. You can find detailed information about our art pieces on our website, scpld.org/history-library through the Art and Architecture in Illinois Libraries site. We are in the process of updating our art inventory to reflect new and retired pieces.
In September, we will be participating in the city-wide, all-arts event – ArtsFest, ALL of the ARTS, ALL over TOWN from Sept. 9 through Sept. 15. This is an annual initiative of the St Charles Arts Council, in partnership with the St. Charles Park District. The program is designed to showcase the depth and breadth of those who create and support the arts in our community. The library will be supporting this initiative by hosting a display in our Mezzanine Gallery which will feature photos that celebrate the city’s 185 year history. This special week will include many concerts, pop-up galleries, poetry crawls and much more. For more information about a schedule of events, visit stcharlesartscouncil.org/artsfest-2019.
September is also National Library Card Sign-up Month. This is the time of year where we remind our community of the wonderful benefits of having and using a library. We will be out promoting the library and registering residents for new library cards. We are your one-stop shop for the finding out the facts. If you ever have a Having a public library in our community is an asset and we are proud to promote lifelong learning for all ages. Our library offers new technologies, programs, e-books, music, movies, Wi-Fi, help with job-hunting or starting a business and much more. If you haven’t taken time to discover your library, now is the time to do it. I guarantee that you will find something unexpected and useful.
Edith Craig is director of the St. Charles Public Library District. The “Discover Your Library” column runs the second Thursday of each month.