Up and Coming...
Happy late Halloween, everyone! Emily here — I hope everyone is spending some time outside to appreciate the trees.
Our next LIRE Happy Hour is coming up on November 20th at 3:00pm. There’s no agenda; it’s just a sharing session in a safe space. Bring your problems, solutions, wins, and losses. We will send out an email when we get closer to the date. If you are interested in getting the Zoom link, let us know!
A few weeks later, Steph and I want to have a final 2025 Lunch & Learn at Tavern on Clark on December 11 at 11:30am (note the change of time). Please register as soon as possible so we can reserve the side room. We want to focus on celebrating the community we’ve built this year, chat about goals for 2026, and demo book talks, just for fun.
BIG NEWS! We launched our website lirerockford.org! I’m really proud of it. Take a peek and let us know if there is something else you want to see. We also set up an Etsy shop, but that is just for strangers. If you’re interested, I would be happy to use your library logo to brand a t-shirt and submit a much cheaper bulk order.
ALA has made some changes this fall, which have made us somewhat uncertain of what the future holds. We are anxiously awaiting more information on the future of the Office for Intellectual Freedom — arguably the most important of efforts put forth by ALA in these times. Despite our frustration with their lack of transparency in the firing of Deborah Caldwell-Stone, we remain committed to supporting the ALA and upholding the values they’ve put forth in writing: the Library Bill of Rights and the Core Values of Librarianship.
Last but not least, I am strangely super sad about the closing of B&T. In my experience, the staff were all so helpful and took great care of their customers. I can’t imagine how you are all coping with everything. WHAT’S NEXT???
I hope everyone is doing ok (preferably, better than ok), and if you need anything, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Stephanie or me. <3