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Up And Coming
Read Across America Day
March 3
Open Books Volunteer Social Potluck
March 6
Rochelle Lee Fund Gala
March 13
IL Reading Council Annual Conference
March 13-16
Charles Rolwing Art Opening
March 28
Rock For Reading / Open Books Sortathon II
March 29
NCFL Annual Conference
March 29-31
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Open Mic:
Hayley Kahn
Hayley Kahn is a new intern at Open Books. As part of breaking her in (gently!), we asked...
How would you spend your last 24 hours if you knew the world would end in the morning?
I think I would take a lot of Xanax and sit on the beach with my friends and family and everyone I love.
What was your dream job when you were 5?
I wanted to be a politician.
If you could have dinner with 3 people (real or fictional), who would you invite and what would you eat?
This is tough...at first I wanted to put down all the people I admire or am obsessed with. Then I started considering whether the people I admire or obsess over would make good dinner companions. Do I really want to eat dinner with Leonard Cohen?
I must say it would be really satisfying to have dinner with Dick Cheney, Margaret Spelling (US Secretary of Education) and the head of the EPA as a captive audience. Using delicious food and carefully plotted oratory, I would sway them all to my way of thinking.
What was your favorite childhood toy or game?
A stuffed dog-like toy named Fluffy.
If you had one superpower, what would it be?
I would have the ability to slam people against walls with laser beams that shot out of my eyes.
What secret obsession do you have that no one knew about before this interview?
I have a horrible, embarrassing affinity for online celebrity gossip blogs. I am ashamed.
What makes you laugh uncontrollably?
My friends and stupid jokes, especially when I tell them.
What book are you reading right now?
Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey, and many other books sporadically.
What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Strawberry, Peach, Dulce de Leche, Spumoni, Cinnamon, Hazelnut, anything fruity...this one store by my house has AMAZING licorice ice cream. You have to try it. I love ice cream.
What is playing on your iPod/record player these days?
I've been listening to a show on NPR Friday nights called Radio M...it is sort of a world rock show. It is very very good. If Neutral Milk Hotel regrouped and started touring I might die of happiness. And there is a particular Neko Case song that has been playing in my head for days.
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Field Trip Fun!
Do you know a teacher or school who might like to bring a class to Open Books for an exciting, inspiring day downtown? Would you like to help us with our creative writing field trips? This newest addition to our literacy program launches this spring, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, at our River North offices. We're scheduling 5th - 8th grade classes NOW! To get involved, just email Hayley at fieldtrips@open-books.org.
For this fabulous new program, Open Books needs to stock up on the following: blank writing journals, copier paper (mostly white but also colored), pens, pencils, markers, crayons, glue, and collage supplies like construction and tissue paper. We also need a trusty copy machine and a projector. Do you have any of these items? Do you (or someone you know) work for a company that could donate them? Or could you simply help us buy them? Please let us know: fieldtrips@open-books.org!
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Read Across America
America's largest reading celebration takes place each year on the birthdate of the author Dr. Seuss. While the event was started by the National Education Association to focus on fun books for children, it is a day for all people, young and old, to remember the importance of leisure reading. Check out the article and find out how you can participate!
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Open Books Buddies in Evanston and Irving Park!
Our beloved Open Books Buddies reading program expanded to Evanston and Irving Park schools in February, and volunteers are still needed at these new sites (as well as at our schools in Bucktown and Cabrini-Green)! Please visit our
our volunteer page for days, times, and maps, then email Erin (ewalter@open-books.org) to RSVP. You'll be so glad you did!
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Read An Ebook Week
Have you ever read an Ebook? If not, here's your chance: March 2-8 is Read An Ebook Week! It is hard to imagine a world without paper books, but the benefits of ebooks are certainly compelling...to see 30 of them, check out Michael Pastore's list.
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Art For Literacy
Join us on Friday, March 28, from 7-11 p.m., for the opening of Charles Rolwing's new show at Las Manos Gallery at 5220 N. Clark St. 10% of all sales will be donated to Open Books! Our thanks to the artist for his generous support.
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March is a month you don't mess around with! And at Open Books, there is a LOT going on: new Buddies programs, our first-ever Volunteer Potluck Social, a new computer lab, visits from the StoryBus, high school novelists... Spring MUST be right around the corner, and they are turning the Chicago River green! March Madness!
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Open Books Press To Publish Corliss High School Novelists: Editors and Artists Wanted!
If you were reading the Chicago Tribune or listening to National Public Radio last November, you may remember the 12 amazing authors from Corliss High School who participated in National Novel Writing Month. They've continued writing ever since, and Open Books now plans to help them become published authors with the
launch of Open Books Press. You could be a very important part of
getting these stories told!
Do you have time to volunteer as an editor for one of these great writers? Are you artistic and willing to donate your illustrating skills for their stories and book covers? Then join us for 4 editing/art approval sessions, which can be done in person or online, and work together with your student author to help them get their work ready for press. There's even a gala book-signing party in the works for the end of May.
Ready to get started? Then check out the authors, read about their novels, and sign up to help make their literary dreams come true!
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Please RSVP: Open Books Volunteer Info Session and Social Potluck March 6!
Thanks so much to all the new folks who have signed up with Open Books to volunteer in recent months! We can't wait to meet you. And thus, you're invited to our next new volunteer event: a potluck social and info session on March 6. We'll chat about Open Books programs and our mission of literacy, play a couple of games, and feast on your favorite foods! Here's the scoop:
WHEN: 6:30 pm Thursday, March 6 WHERE: Open Books 213 W. Institute Place, Suite 305 Chicago WHAT TO BRING: Delicious edibles to share! Please let us know if your contribution to the potluck will be a main course, side dish, salad, or dessert. HOW TO RSVP: Just email Erin ( ewalter@open-books.org) by March 4 and let her know what you'll be bringing.
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Blue Gargoyle Adult Learners Power Up New Open Books Computer Lab
Late last month, Open Books installed a brand-new computer lab for adult literacy students at partner organization Blue Gargoyle in Hyde Park. This computer lab was made possible by the generous donations from the friends and families of Genevieve Thiers and Dan Ratner, who asked their wedding guests to give money to Open Books and other charitable causes close to the couple's hearts in lieu of wedding gifts. Located in a sunny former library just inside Blue Gargoyle's front entrance, the lab includes 6 new Mac Minis along with monitors, a color laser printer, a scanner, headphones, and even new blue carpet. Students can use the machines to write documents, scan and edit artwork, use email and the Web, and practice reading skills.
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StoryBus Sighted, Open Books On Board
The Open Books team enjoyed a day with The Kohl McCormick StoryBus as it toured two of our favorite neighborhood schools, Schiller and Manierre Elementary! The kids were thrilled with the Goldilocks and the Three Bears-themed Winnebago and had a blast hearing the story read by Erin, playing with superstar interns Dustin and Matt, and getting their faces painted by Stacy and Becca. A big thank you to The StoryBus and to bus driver Clarence for making it such a fun and memorable day.
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Out Of The Box: Three Fabulous Finds
In the process of sorting thousands upon thousands of books, there are always a few that stand out. Here are our three favorites for the month.
1. Lake Geneva, Newport Of The West: 1870-1920, Volume 1
 Oh, where does one even start? With the fact that this is merely Volume 1 in what must surely have been an epic series? With the wonderfully myopic geography that qualifies Lake Geneva, WI as "the West?" With the dedication ("To Bill, Billy, Scott and Tom, who forgave us when they were out of clean socks")? No, it is impossible to choose. And therefore we shall simply let the first entry speak for itself: "'Oh do let's finish the guest list before we're too exhausted to enjoy the party,' Rowena warned as Helen appeared to lose interest. 'Mama and Cook are both about to have a fit worrying about ample food for all these guests. Let's see now, Uncle Buckingham and Aunt Susan, Uncle George and Aunt Mary, Uncle Albert and Aunt Eliza, Uncle Ebenezer and Aunt Lucy -- heavens, we could have a houseful with just our own family not even counting the Cousins! The Julian Rumseys are coming; Martha and Amelia are going to wear their new gowns, they say, and Juliette says George will be home from college this afternoon!'"
2. 1973 Britannica Yearbook of Science and the Future
 It is easy, sometimes, to become frustrated with certain boxes of unusable books. We do not wish for textbooks. We cannot use encyclopedias. We have made our stance plain on Cliffs Notes, magazines, and other non-book items. But even in this wasteland of undesirable material an occasional gem can be found, and the 1973 Britannica Yearbook of Science and the Future is a diamond of the highest quality. That creature on the cover, for example, is none other than the Mechanical Servant for Mankind, and inside is a wonderland of ESP cards, psychic research, the lost Tasaday tribe, the Programmed Brain Simulator, accelerator experiments, problems of mercury control and even a section with the beautifully simple title of 'Science, general.' We have seen the future, and it does not yet contain Mechanical Servants for Mankind. The loss, beloved readers, is surely ours.
3. Chacineria Practica
 "Ahem," you are all saying to yourselves, looking askance at the fabulous cover to the left. "Is this not the Open Books Newsletter? And is this not the third book in the Out Of The Box section? Then why, pray tell, is it not a faded old cookbook of horrible specificity? We can plainly see that what you have there is in fact a Technicolor guide, in Spanish, which clearly describes itself as 'the art of conserving and preparing meat, by itself or mixed with other meats and other materials, and transforming them into black puddings, hams, pastas, etc.'" It is true, and in April we will return to our usual fare -- if only we can tear ourselves away from this practical paragon.
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