Chapter One

Our new writing workshop for young adults -- Writers' Space -- was slightly random and seriously fun. We started with some basic word and poetry exercises, and then created Exquisite Corpses, and all ate too many muffins and waaaay too much hot chocolate with whipped cream. In other words, success. Hope to see you at Chapter 2 (Thursday, Feb. 26th, at 4 p.m.)!

All about you.

Have you seen our freshened up Young Adult non-fiction section? We're keeping it full of books that apply to you and your life. Learn about anything from how to manage your time and find the best jobs or colleges for you, or learn how to make a cool new shirt from one of your old t-shirts you never wear. Whatever you want -- there's plenty to see, and there's more on the way.

Watching history happen

Today America's 44th president was sworn into office, and Chicagoland and the rest of Illinois watched one of its own make history, in so many different ways. Come on in to the library and pick up a biography on Barack Obama, or even a title about the democratic process. If you're looking to find out more about about Obama's road to politics, we've got a good bunch of biographies. We recommend:

Political Profiles: Barack Obama, by Kerrily Sapet
Barack Obama: The Politics of Hope, by William Michael Davis
Yes We Can: A Biography of Barack Obama, by Garen Thomas

All are housed in the Juvenile Biography section, but are great for young adult readers, too.

Pop Culture Wars!

Despite the insane cold (negative 10 -- what's the deal?), we had a good turn out for our Pop Culture Wars Event, and really enjoyed watching everybody try to wrack their brains to try and remember that one celebrity, or what Barack Obama had said about this, that, or the other.

Actually, the best part was probably watching people complete the lightning round's final objective: Dance Soulja Boy's "Crank That" dance. Now that's how you remember the best of 2008.

She got game

Our first Girls Only Gaming Day was great -- it was fun to see everybody get in there and tear it up on the Wii Sports, especially bowling. Thanks for coming out, and we hope you'll come again, and bring a friend.