Wanna get away?

We're just a few days away from summer and it's not looking particularly cheerful, is it? The word "summer" tends, for many of us, to be associated with the word "vacation." Let's see:
Rising fuel costs, with gas already more than $4.00 a gallon, leading to higher airfares, skyrocketing food prices and a big "ouch" every time you fill the tank. Then - there's the weather. Storms have wreaked havoc on our graduation parties and early warm weather celebrations. Worse, they've devastated areas in surrounding states like Indiana, Wisconsin and particularly Iowa. Not exactly a recipe for summer fun.

Of course I'm going to tell you: spend your summer at the Library. We've got "tours" of Paris and China, music and dance performances of every flavor, an Australian Great Shark Expedition, free movies and gaming - even a visit to Michigan beachtowns, if you prefer to stay in the Midwest. Click on any of the links in that last sentence and you'll find out more about the full schedule of events here at the Library this summer. See a full calendar here.

But, maybe you also need a little more distance between you and Des Plaines or wherever it is you call home -- at least for a long weekend? We can help in that department, too, with our great selection of guidebooks.

For today's post, I'll focus on our friends in neighboring states. I had the shock of a lifetime last week when my childhood haven of happy summer memories, Lake Delton in Wisconsin, literally disappeared, swallowed up into the Wisconsin River. It's a place I know like the back of my hand - every curve of the lake, every cozy cottage and A-frame dotting the hills, every bait shop, every tacky water park. We used to fish right by the dam that, until now, kept the river from absorbing the lake. The photographs of the drained lake are shocking, but even more serious is the flooding in parts of Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa and yes, Illinois.

While it might be tempting to think that a Midwestern summer getaway is a lost cause in 2008, staying local will help keep your costs low and will support these states that are struggling with the destruction caused by bad weather. After all, what could be more Midwestern than pitching in to help out a neighbor?

Indianapolis has one of the finest children's museums in the country and a great zoo. Michigan has beaches galore, and quaint if touristy attractions like Holland and Mackinac Island. Iowa is the place to explore small-town America, from the peaceful Amana Colonies to Dutch-influenced Pella. St. Louis is just five hours away by car, known for its baseball team (causing much unhappiness to our Northsiders...), barbeque and live music. Wisconsin, my personal favorite, has stuff to do from Milwaukee to Madison to Door County to La Crosse. You will eat more food in Wisconsin in a week than you typically do in a month, for example, so you'll save on groceries and restaurants right away. :)

Below you will find some one-click links to guidebooks in our Library for planning a vacation in a surrounding state. I'll follow this up soon with some suggestions outside the Midwest, but this makes a good start. Happy planning!

Indiana
Iowa
Michigan
Missouri
Wisconsin

Thinking about adoption?

If you have ever considered the possibility of adopting a child, the Des Plaines Public Library might not have been on your list of resources. You may want to think again, however, since the Library is hosting two adoption seminars this month: International Adoption, on Wednesday, June 18 from 7-9 PM, and Domestic Adoption on Wednesday, June 25 from 7-9 PM.

The media tends to write about adoption as a "hot topic," covering it as if it was a fashion trend or focusing only on the negative and controversial aspects of it - an unfortunate circumstance given the seriousness of making the choice to adopt and how rewarding it can be. While I am not an adoptive parent, I am the proud godmother to Annie, a beautiful little girl from China (yes, that's her in the picture -- hey, I write the blog, I get to brag a little once in awhile!), as well as unofficial "auntie" to other adopted children from China and Guatemala. I have other friends who chose to adopt from within the United States and from Russia, and one thing all these parents will tell you is how blessed they feel to have these children as their sons and daughters.

Still, adoption can be a difficult decision to make, and the legal concerns, documentation, financial, immigration and travel issues can be intimidating. So if you want to get the facts in a comfortable, low-pressure environment, attend these two seminars at the Library. There's no charge, all you have to do is register.

At the first seminar on June 18, 7 PM, Judy Stigger, Director of International Adoption at The Cradle in Evanston, will discuss the international adoption process. Cradle is a private, non-profit Illinois adoption agency. Stigger is also the mother of two transracially-adopted children. She will focus on countries that are currently open for adoption and will discuss factors to consider in cross-cultural adoptions.
Read more information here and register.

At the second seminar on June 25, also at 7 PM, Tobi Ehrenpreis, executive director of the Adoption Center For Family Building, an adoption agency licensed in both Illinois and Indiana, and Shelley Ballard, adoption attorney and partner at Ballard, Desai, Bush-Joseph & Horwich, will present an overview of the domestic adoption process and provide practical advice to getting started. They will discuss agency, private and interstate adoptions as well as the costs, legal risks, and how to begin finding a birth mother. Both are also parents by adoption.

“We’ll be offering an introductory session, a nuts and bolts program, about domestic adoption,” says Ehrenpreis. “So many things have changed over the past several years so we’ll be providing an introductory session on what domestic adoption looks like in the 21st century.”
Read more information here and register.

The Library can help in other ways - use this one-click search to find books in our Library on the adoption process, raising adopted children and other related concepts. For more information on the adoption seminars or any other Library events, call us at 847-376-2787.

Ironing Out the Rough Spots

After much planning, discussion, hard work, and revision -- after countless hours of typing, clicking and staring at computer screens, we were able to bring you a new Web site this week. Anyone who has participated in a roll-out this large can tell you that things never go easily nor perfectly - but hey, I don't think we did too badly. A few dead links here or there, a few misdirected links, and a few "whoops!" moments. We thank all the patrons who have taken the time this week to give comments and suggestions and we will take all of them into consideration. In fact, one of my biggest qualifications for the new site was flexibility, so that we can adapt and change as needed. Thanks also for your patience with problems that occurred as we made the transition. Most have been solved or are in the process.
Some things you may find helpful:

1. Check out the top right hand corner of every screen. This part of a Web site can be easy to overlook, but we've put all kinds of helpful features there. You can search our Catalog from any page of the site, and can search by Author, Title, Subject or Keyword. There's also a helpful "How Do I?" menu there, including a link to "My Account" information.
   
   
2. Something new about our library databases: previously, if you wanted to use a database from home, you had to click on a separate link, with a little picture of a house. You don't need to do that anymore. Most of our databases can be used from home, or anywhere you have an Internet connection, if you have a DPPL library card. Just click on the title of the database and you'll be prompted to log in. The few databases that are not available outside the library are marked: "In Library Use Only." We eliminated those house icons because they cluttered up the pages - only a handful of our databases cannot be used outside the Library.
   
   
3. Our new home page is designed to have a newsletter feel -- but obviously we can't put all the library news there, it would get crowded. So remember to click on the "What's New" button, left hand side of the site, to get the latest, including links to this blog as well as our new blog, "Positively Ellinwood Street."
   

Speaking of news -- the Taste of Des Plaines is just hours away. We'll be there on Saturday and Sunday, so stop by and visit with us in the Community Expo tent (or, come into the Library and cool off, since the Taste takes place on Library Plaza and it's gonna be a hot one). I've never been to the Taste before, so I'm hoping to spend a few hours there on Sunday afternoon. Got a question about the new Web site? Stop by and ask us - or ask us about all the other great services and programs we offer.

The Taste is a popular summertime tradition in Des Plaines, and so are our Summer Reading Clubs. This year's Summer Reading Club for Kids is called, "Get in the Game." Kids who are up to the challenge of reading this summer can receive prizes and a t-shirt. But summer reading isn't just for kids -- check out our "Not Just Summer Reading Club" for adults, too!

In the meantime, I've got to get back to work on the Web site!