Our Skokie Yearbook Project

Transcript

 


Marni: Hey, everyone! Welcome to "Your Family, Your Library," a podcast where we discuss the many ways our library is here for families of all shapes and sizes. Each episode we will bring you information and resources relevant to your family and beyond. We are "Your Family, Your Library," and we're glad you're here. I am your host, Marni, and I'm excited to welcome Maria and Laurel to the podcast today. Maria is our Youth Services Supervisor, and Laurel is our Teen Services Manager, and we're very excited to have them here today to introduce the Skokie Yearbook Project to our community. The Skokie Yearbook Project is exploring a year in the life of the Village of Skokie, and together creating a yearbook of sorts that kind of tell us a story of who we are and how we are, and live in this community. So Maria and Laurel, thank you so much for joining us here today.

Laurel: Thanks for having us.

Maria: Yeah.

Marni: We're very excited to hear more about the Skokie Yearbook Project, but I would love for you to tell us a little bit about yourselves and how you got started on this project.

Laurel: Sounds good.

Maria: Well.

Laurel: I'll jump it off. My name is Laurel, and I'm the teen services manager here.

Maria: I'm Maria Papanastassiou, and as you mentioned, I'm the Youth Services Supervisor here at Skokie. I have the great joy of pretty much getting to do really cool things with families and kids. All the time. And part of what I was hoping to do was to bring that sense of play with Laurel to our community.

Marni: Laurel, tell us a little bit about what you do on the day to day.

Laurel: All right. So as a teen services manager, I oversee our Teen Room and our services to middle school and high school students, primarily. So 6th through 12th grade. Yep. And then I have a couple of librarians on my team. And four amazing teen services specialists and together we work really hard to create fun opportunities for teens, in and out of the building.

Marni: And together, both of you almost make up the first of the whole floor, the Teen Room and the youth room are pretty huge parts of the first floor.

Laurel: Yeah, pretty much. 0 to 18-19. Yeah.

Maria: You got the developmental spectrum.

Marni: Exactly. A little bit of everything. Yep. So tell us how this idea started. Like, who had the first thought?

Maria: So, Laurel and I were working together as the co-leads for our strategic plan. And we had our strategic focus area was cultivating connectedness and belonging.

Marni: Big words.

Maria: Yeah, some big words.

Marni: Big, fancy words.

Maria:  But what we found was that, like, we didn't need to be big and fancy and formal in terms of, like, how we can elicit that connection and belonging. We thought that a really great way to do that is to have people kind of tap into play. And some hands on learning as a way to explore and think about, how they connect to themselves and how they connect to others. So that's kind of how we started thinking about…

Marni: And I remember like a long time ago when this was still an idea, I popped into a meeting room that you're both in, and you were like, “we don't know what to call this initiative.” And you were coming up with tons of different, like, icons and, like, names and like, you're like, “what if we called it this? And oh, would it be if we called it this?” And I don't remember how you got to the Skokie yearbook project name.

Laurel: Yeah.  Okay, so I just want to bring us to that meeting. Yeah. Before we even get into that room, Maria and Van and I went to Madison. We went to Madison, Wisconsin on kind of a, you know, a mission for inspiration. We went to the InterActivity conference, which is, the annual conference of the Association of Children's Museums. So one might be like museums, what? You all work at a library.

Marni: I feel like libraries and museums have a ton in common.

Laurel: We have so much in common. And the thing is, is we knew that at this conference, you know, this children's museum conference, that there would be a focus on play and engagement. So we wanted to see what we can learn from that. And at that point, we were kind of picturing some type of an interactive exhibit. We didn't know exactly what we were going to go for, but we were like, they're ready to learn. And, and boy, did we learn.

Marni: And boy howdy.

Laurel: Boy howdy did we learn a lot. So actually, Maria and Van made the initial discovery that led to this whole project. Basically, if you want to talk about that, Maria.

Maria: Yeah. So, Madison Public Library had this amazing exhibit at their main branch where they had all these stamped self-portraits of people in their community. And then they also had some additional elements where people got to express themselves in terms of like some self-reflective prompts, like thinking about, like, who they are and how they belong. And it was really touching and it was playful, too. Like, it was it was an opportunity, where you could see people like, of all ages, all backgrounds, all engaging in the same activity and like tapping into themselves in their community to express that and like in different ways through so this art. So it was very inspiring to see that for sure.

Marni: So I know that I've seen the stamp portraits and I'm sure some of our community members have seen the stamp portraits. And you also just had the exhibit that went up last month as well. That was down by the Petty Auditorium, which was really cool to see. But I love the idea of having all these stamps. It's not like a stamp of someone's face, they're all just different geometric shapes. And then you can create whatever you want with them. Like some people have done way more abstract things. Some people I saw did way more detailed things, only using like the edge of the stamp. It was wild to see the differences and everything too.

Laurel: It was so cool. I think the stamps themselves are such a really important part of this first phase of the project, because they kind of level the playing field for our participants. You know, it's can be kind of a vulnerable experience, actually, to like be like, let me make a self-portrait. And people may feel like very comfortable with, you know, ink or charcoal or whatever pencil.

Marni: But this is something that people aren't using like every day or have access to


Laurel: Exactly. But, you know, so it was a new experience for me. I mean, everybody that stepped up to to our tables, which, was really awesome and actually like the the stamps that we've used during our projects are the very stamps that were custom made for the Our Town Everywhere project in Madison. And I want to talk really briefly to.

Marni: Yeah, what’s the Our Town Everywhere project?

Laurel: Yeah. It’s really cool So this is…we….

Marni: So this is what sort of inspired a little bit the Skokie Yearbook Project…

Laurel: Absolutely. Yeah. And it we I think we owe a ton to them for, for that. So Our Town Everywhere originated in Nashville, Tennessee, with artist and printmaker Bryce McCloud in 2014. He had this really cool project. He wanted to make this collective self-portrait of the community.

Marni: Cool.

Laurel: Yeah. And so the idea of having these stamp self-portraits, you know, done out in, Nashville neighborhoods, done in museums and in the library, that was his idea. And what he experienced from that was like, really connecting a lot of people together. And I know that he had an emphasis, too, on, engaging people who might not always be included. So, you know, people experiencing homelessness, people kind of on the fringes of society in Nashville. And because they are, you know, part of the community. And he wanted to, you know, he wanted people to, to like, feel that they belong.

Marni: Yeah.

Maria: And that they’ve been seen.

Laurel: Yeah, exactly.

Marni: And I've seen that a lot, too. In the Skokie Yearbook Project, you guys are always trying to make sure that there's different times of programs, different days of programs. You're out in the community, you're doing stuff with the bookmobile, you're doing stuff at the farmer's market during the summer, you're having programs for adults, you're having programs for kids, you're having programs for everybody in between to make sure that there's somebody you can, like, just try it. And I've seen people at those tables that you have downstairs where they're like, at first there's a lot of hesitancy because looking in a mirror for a solid ten minutes at yourself can be an intimidating prospect, for sure. But I feel like people get really into it, and they're so excited to see those portraits that are up in the gallery, too.

Laurel: It was so cool to have that exhibit, but yeah, wanting to make it available to everybody in our community was just a really huge part of it. And that's something that we took out of the inspiration from Nashville. And then from Madison.

Marni: So then after you came back from Madison and you went to the Inter\Activity conference, how did you, like translate those ideas into the Skokie Yearbook project?

Laurel: Well, we reached out to Trent. So Trent Miller is an artist in Madison, Wisconsin, and he works at Madison Public Library. He's the head Bublarian. And, the Bubbler.

Marni: I really hope that's what it's called.

Laurel: His title is Bublarian on the website.

Marni: That’s amazing, I I wish we had that.

Laurel: Yeah. So, you know, he was the person who spearheaded the Our Town Everywhere project in Madison. We reached out to him and he was like, just very cool. He connected us with Bryce. You know, we told him that we wanted to do something, you know, inspired by that project. And they let us use all of their stamps, just so much of their stuff.

Marni: Amazing. I love the collaboration that especially with like, libraries and museums, we see it all the time. They're like, oh yeah, here's what we did. Here's this contact, here's this information, here's the supply.

Laurel: It’s beautiful.

Marni: It's so cool.

Laurel: It's really like in the spirit of the project was not at all like proprietary or like locked up. It's just like very in the in the spirit of like…

Marni: Like if another town is able to do that for their community, I think that they would want that as well. That's so cool. So when you come, you, you talked to Trent, is that correct? And then you came back and you were like, Skokie. Yearbook Project, how did you get the name?

Maria: So we, we were thinking about, like, the stamp portraits and different activities. We were like, well, this is really a great way to engage and maybe not…Like one part of what we're doing. And actually, Jane had the idea of, like, wouldn't it be really cool if you guys made a yearbook? And I don't know if she when she said it, she thought we would be like, “yeah!”

Marni: Yeah, it would be really cool….

Laurel: But that's the idea.

Marni: Sorry that you now have to design as a yearbook as well.

Laurel: I’m sorry to Van. That's not going to be Maria and I. Thank you Van, Van our graphic designer, our supervisor of visual design.

Marni: Yes.

Maria: So when we were thinking about that, it kind of gave us a way to explore the community in ways that we didn't anticipate. So we did have, like kind of the initial thing where we were doing the self-portraits and having an opportunity for folks to kind of explore who they are or to have some different reflection activities, like we asked, how does it feel to be seen? And people could share their thoughts or draw pictures..

Marni: I think one of my favorite ones was this because you've had everybody doing projects for these out in the community. And so one of the ones that I did was that at the farmers market, we had the fingerprint ones. They draw different emotions on them. They're so cute. YThose are huge here. And people it's like, oh yeah. Even adults were like, yeah, I'm going to do this. This sounds great.

Laurel: That's what it's all about. I didn't want to people just to like, get playful and like experiencing experience, doing something like fun and new alongside other people that maybe they didn't know before.

Marni: I love that the first part was specifically about yourself. Like, we're going to talk about the phases in a minute because I know you've you've shared a little bit about them with me before, but I love that the first part was so playful. And then it has like come out in sections to keep building about how you are, who you are in the community, which I think is really, really cool. But do you have a favorite part from the first phase of the portraiture?

Laurel: I have one that I'll share from Third Space Thursday, actually.

Marni: Okay, please. And for those of you who don't know, Third Space Thursday is a monthly program that we have for adults to build community where they can get playful, detach from their phones, maybe do an art or a craft. And sometimes we have guests who come and join us for Third Space Thursday. And so there's one that you guys joined us for as well, right?

Maria: Yeah. A couple.

Laurel: Which is just so great because I feel like, you know, the, like the kind of shared goals between Third Space Thursday and Skokie Yearbook Project are…

Marni: Very similar.

Laurel: Very similar like, so and also really at that important part of like engaging adults in the play and connecting.

Marni: It’s easy to convince a child to do something playful.

Laurel: 100%, you don’t have to try.  

Marni:  And sometimes it's harder to convince an adult that they're still allowed to have some whimsy in their life. Right?

Laurel: Absolutely. Embrace the whimsy.

Marni: Embrace the whimsy.

Laurel: So during during phase one, we had a couple of sessions of Third Space Thursday where we brought the stamps and the whole kit, you know, we encourage people to do these stamp self-portraits, and they're was a couple that kind of wandered in. And the wife was kind of like, oh, I saw, you know, I saw the postcard downstairs and found out there was an event  right now I just wanted to see what was going on. You know, I'm just here to take a peek. And we were like, well, you know, like.

Marni: Perfect time to take a peek to, like to join.

Laurel: Yeah, just like, let's do the thing. So she was like, oh, okay. And like, started making one. And her husband was like, not for me, basically. Like, he was like, not going to participate. And she was like, come on. And I was like, come on.

Marni: I feel like I've seen you convince people to just try something so many times. It's amazing. Like, it's going to be fun.

Laurel: It's not for a grade like, we just want you to have a good time. Yeah. You have to turn it in if you.

Marni: Don't want to.

Laurel: You know? So, so he was like, okay. And he sat down and made a portrait and it was just like watching a rom com. The two of them were like, giggling together. It was like date night. And I just was like, oh my gosh, how beautiful.

Marni: That's so sweet.

Laurel: Yeah, it's a good moment.

Marni: Doing a craft together with your loved ones is just the dream.

Maria: We had a ten year anniversary date one time too.  

Marni: Wait was that the other one?

Maria: There was another. Oh, there was a down at the, We have special tables where we often would do activities, and, we had a couple that were like, it's her ten year anniversary, and this is what we're doing tonight. So they did portraits and it was so sweet. .

Marni: Did they do one together just separately?

Maria: Oh, they were like sitting across from each other and like that's bantering. And it was like it was very adorable.

Marni: We love that. Do you have any other favorite moments, either of you?

Laurel: Oh, absolutely. So, we had a ton of amazing teen volunteers who worked with us, especially during phase one, but really also through phase two, and we're hoping then phase three as well. It's been amazing, you know, working with teen volunteers has allowed us to offer lots of opportunities for people to come participate. Having teen volunteers help facilitate the pop-ups that we've done in the library. The teens were also really insightful and shared a lot of really cool ideas with us. So, you know, some of the like the prompts and what we worked on with the zines in phase two, came out of some, like brainstorming with the teen volunteers.

Marni: Oh, that's really cool. That's awesome.

Laurel: So there were a number of teens who participated super heavily in the summer, kind of as part of the teen summer volunteer program, and then even into the school year.

Marni: That's so cool.

Laurel: The exhibit was really cool for me. I think the exhibit reception was awesome. You know, just like seeing all of the portraits in the gallery at that big scale.

Marni: And then you saw them on the screen as well, rotating with people holding up…

Laurel: Absolutely.

Marni: So cool.

Laurel: It was cool because, you know, I was in a lot of those portrait making sessions, you know, on the ground floor and seeing them on the walls of the gallery.

Marni: We've been doing this for a while.

Laurel: And it felt really good to like pause and reflect on the experience of, you know, doing the portrait aspect of the project. So yeah, that was really cool.

Marni: Do you have any others? Maria?

Maria: So one of my favorite moments ties in kind of with what Lauren mentioned about our fabulous teen volunteers.

Marni: Okay,

Maria: So we had a teen volunteer who is inviting people to come and participate in creating a self-portrait. And there was a woman who was by herself. She was a little bit older, you know, the teen was like, hey, do you want to come in and try this, like, art project and was trying to encourage the person to come and, she's like, oh no, no, no, I don't do art, I don't do, I don’t, I'm not creative. And home, she's like, well, just come and just see. Come sit down and see. I'm like, the teen sat down.

Marni: The teen is the one that convinced them?

Maria: Yeah, yeah. And it's like, come, come sit down and see for a second. And the woman's like, oh yeah, but you know, I'm not creative. I'm not artistic, I can't do this. And then I just watched this teen just like talk about like, well, what are different ways that we can be creative and like, got the patron to think about like, oh, I'm creative in these ways. And she's like, well, so she you can be creative. So this is just you taking your creativity and putting it in a different form. And the person made a portrait like I did the whole thing and it was really like amazing. So I, our teens are so, we can learn so much from them and appreciate how much that they want to give to their community. So, yeah, I that's one of my favorite.

Marni: That's amazing.

Laurel: Shout out teen volunteers.

Marni: Shout out teen volunteers.

Brenna: Hi, this is Brenna Murphy, Advisory Supervisor at the Skokie Public Library, here to tell you about a book that I love. Foodies, listen up. In his book, “Change the Recipe,” Michelin-starred chef Jose Andres shares wisdom from his career running kitchens around the world. The founder of a nonprofit that provides food to those in war zones and disaster areas. He is known for his humanitarian work, part memoir and part pep talk, his story is hopeful and uplifting. Stay tuned to hear more about books we're loving and check out our recommendations in the show notes.

Marni: So we mentioned this earlier, but there's several phases to the Skokie Yearbook Project. Can you tell me a little bit more about what those are and how you've been managing them?

Laurel: Well, sure, Marni.

Marni: Thank you Laurel. Thank you, Maria, we're very happy to have you here today.

Laurel: Do you want to go, Maria

Maria: Sure. Yeah. So the way that we were thinking about this was, it is kind of like a yearbook format in terms of how we were planning different phases of it. So, like, if you take an individual like a student, right? And they have a picture of themselves in the yearbook as an individual, that was kind of our first phase, like, who are you? And so you get a chance to kind of see your portrait through all these different activities. So just different ways that you can explore, like who you are. Yeah. And then our second phase was, if you think about like when you're in a yearbook and then maybe you participate in different clubs or you're on different teams. So that's, that's where we were thinking about, like you're broadening your circle a little bit. And so in the context of what we were thinking like who are your friends and family like where you come from, what are the things that make you, you within your community. And so…

Marni: Is that when you did the family photo shoot.

Laurel: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Marni: That was such a good program.

Maria: Yeah. We had a family photo shoot. So, we have a lot of different club, people….I hope you know that. That there's lots of clubs at the library.

Marni: Folks if you’re local. There's a lot of different clubs you can join at the library.

Laurel: Come on, down.

Marni: Come on down. Go on your next anniversary date.

Maria: Yes. And then we also had some different activities like that we're just popping up. So we had a lot of zine making opportunities where people could kind of explore.

Marni: It's so interesting because in the Studio too, like zine making is 100% like revived or coming back or, or something like people love making them with their hands. Like it's a really cool thing. I'm also seeing, like teens are coming up into the studio sometimes to make them too, which is really cool. So very popular.

Laurel: Yeah. So we had these prompts for the zines for people to reflect on some of those questions that Maria was talking about. You know, who am I within my…

Marni: Do you remember any of the prompts? Whoa! For those of you who are not in the studio recording with us right now, Maria just pulled out a zine to show us with some prompts on it, which is really cool. An example zine if you will.

Maria: Some examples…you could share, a playlist of songs about your friends and family.

Marni: Cool.

Maria: You can share some traditions that you might have that are special. You can tell the story of like, your oldest friend. Some advice…

Marni: Your maybe, your youngest friend?

Maria: Sure. Share about your heritage or cultural traditions. So, or something like your favorite club or activity or hobby that you do. So there are lots of different ways that people could interpret that. And what is cool about zines is that it's like your self-expression, but then you in turn are sharing it with other people so that they can learn about you, which is so cool. Yeah. So it is really fun.

Marni: That's awesome. And so we've gone to the first two phases, and I think you're on the third and final phase now is that correct?

Maria: We are. So now…

Marni:  Dun dun dun dun.

Now you're in the yearbook and it's you with your class.

Marni: Oh my goodness. It's all the class photos.

Laurel: Yeah, yep.

Maria: Big class photos were like, how do you get everyone in there? I don't know, it’s magic.

Marni: Is this going to be a really big yearbook? It's just going to be like a thick.

Maria: I mean. there's a lot of stuff.

Laurel: We shall see.

Marni: Is going into the collection? That would be so cool.

Laurel: You know, we're still in talks about how it's going to be, you know, we definitely are going to have hard copies. So, like a couple of those, a digital version.

Marni: That'll be so cool.

Laurel: And…

Marni:  And? I love an And.

Laurel: We are going to include our Skokie Yearbook in the next time capsule. Oh, it's going to be…

Marni: Wait, that’s so cool.

Laurel: I know, we’re so excited. So it's going to go in before the sealing, which happens in June.

Marni: It's so funny because the only feedback that I received from patrons about the time capsule we opened up last year was that there was like, there wasn't enough photos in it. And you're like, well, we can solve that problem.

Maria: You have photos we have photos.

Marni:  You want photos? Done. Here's a picture of everybody who drew one.

Maria: So, yeah. So this is all about Skokie like, who is our community of Skokie. So got a couple different activities that we're going to be doing throughout this time period.

Marni: Can you share any of those with us?

Laurel: Yeah for sure. So, something I'm super excited for us to be doing. Is this kind of, like, personal landmarks in Skokie activity.

Marni: Oh, cool.

Laure: Yeah. So, we will be doing these pop up activities with maps of Skokie where people can, you know, consider their own personal landmarks, their favorite places in Skokie, the places that are important to them, and mark them with a little flag.

Marni: And so there would be, like, little flags all over Skokie.

Laurel: Yeah. So we're going to have, you know, cool prompts: what's the best place to read a book outside in Skokie.

Marni: And so you can see how other people are interacting with them, too.

Laurel: Yeah.

Marni: That's awesome. That's so cool. I love that you've sort of broken up the year like a school year as well. I think that's really cool. And specifically with like the Skokie Yearbook project, but all the programs that you have been doing over the last year in phases one and two, at least, that I've seen have been so cool. And people have been interacting with them so much. And it's just like one of those things like summer reading, where it's just people get really excited to do something for themselves, do something for their friends, do something for their family, or do something for their community. And I think it's very clearly shown in all the programs that you have done. I know the initiative that you were saying it was like for connectedness and belonging, but like what-what do you want to get out of this project? You've been working on it so closely for so long together. What do you what do you hope to get out of it?

Maria: So part of this, strategic focus areas, like what are the ways that we can help people feel seen, and how they can connect to themselves and how they can connect to their community and how they can be involved. So we wanted to create multiple opportunities where they could, like, do those different or they can explore those different areas throughout a year, you know, and then and then there would also be something that we talk about a lot is like doing the experience and then documenting it. And something that's really enjoyable for a lot of people is to be able to see the products that other people have made too.

Marni: People are also just really proud of, like something like a lot of the time, specifically in the Studio, I hear this all the time or like, I didn't know I could do that or I could make that or I didn't know how good it would make me feel.

Maria: Great.

Marni: And it's just the, the pride that you get for creating something with your hands or sharing something with somebody is huge.

Maria: Following to be part of a collective, right? Yeah, I think that that's really important too. Like it's a whole like community making art or learning together or exploring together. So I think that that's really powerful.

Marni: So how do you feel? I know you're about like two-thirds of the way through. Do you have like will have what have you learned so far?

Laurel: Well, first of all, it'll just feel weird when we're not doing this anymore.

Marni: It's been such a huge part of your day to day life.

Laurel: Absolutely. We've been…

Marni: Day to day working life.

Laurel: Yeah.

Marni: Excuse me.

Laurel: Yeah. You know, I think the thing is, is what we've learned through this project and what we've seen and how to encourage connection with members of the public and sort of help people get themselves permission to just try a thing, even if they don't think they'll be great at it. I'm definitely carrying that forward for my programing work for the library.

Marni: Yeah, you don't have to be good at something to try something, you know?

Laurel: And like the benefit of, like, just, you know, jumping in.

Marni: What I'm saying, the benefits of being bad at something and like, trying again is huge. I tell this to people all the time. I'm like, oh my God, I'm so glad you failed. You learn something and you get to do it again. How cool is that?

Laurel: Yeah.

Marni:  And I feel like there's not enough of that. So I think that's really cool.

Laurel: Yeah, I totally agree. Yeah.

Marni: What about you, Maria?

Maria: I mean, similar to what you mentioned earlier Marni, was about, you know, people are looking for different ways to express themselves. And especially when we took these activities out into the community, like, took things out to the parks or to the bookmobile. We did a lot of work with schools, too, especially.

Marni: Because you do a lot of both of you and your teams do a lot of school visits.

Maria: Yeah. Over the summer, we took Skokie Yearbook Project themed activities to early childhood centers, too, because, you know, little kids also need to think about, like, who they are and how they interact in this world. So they all had a chance to, explore different art mediums and then create portraits of themselves. And then we also had opportunities to exhibit those especially.

Marni: That's all for the kids, too.

Maria: So that was really fun. So I think like I'm hoping that like as a library, this is something that we continue doing, is continuing to offer these opportunities where people can do things well.

Marni: Especially you have the tables now, so it’s easy.

Laurel: Our beautiful wooden tables.

Marni: I know we've talked a lot about what you've done within the library, but have you worked with any other like community partners or collaborators that have helped you through Skokie Yearbook Project?

Maria: So we're really excited to be working with the Skokie Heritage Museum.

Marni: Oh, cool.

Maria: Especially, in our last phase where we're exploring who is Skokie. Because who knows better than the Skokie Heritage Museum.

Marni: That's perfect.

Maria: So they're going to be working with us on a couple of, different programs and, opportunities, to explore. And we, in turn, are hoping to share, about them as an amazing community resource. And they are also…

Marni:  They do a lot.

Maria: They do a lot. And they have so many cool, things. I highly recommend if you can get over to their Y2K exhibit.

Marni: Wait, really?

Laurel: It's awesome.

Maria: It’s so fun.

Marni: Oh, don't they also do like, yoga classes?

Laurel: Oh yeah.


Marni: I was like, the Skokie Heritage Museum has yoga classes?

Laurel: Totally. And they have really cool. Like, school day off, like, classes.

Marni: Oh what a great idea.

Laurel: Yeah. But they also are like, you know, there are these like, knowledge keepers they have so many…

Marni: They know what's going on in the community.

Laurel: Yeah. Just and like photos. And they're a huge part of the, the time capsule as well.

Marni: Oh cool.

Maria: Yeah. And we're hoping also to share that, you know, they're interested in exploring more about who is Skokie in terms of like they're looking for participants to, engage in oral storytelling about Skokie so…

Marni: Oh, cool.

Maria: So, we're going to do like, some mini storytelling with them.

Marni: Phase four, the Skokie Yearbook Project doesn’t end.

Laurel: Basically like, how can we keep this thing going? Yeah, they've been, they've been working on developing an oral history project that, like, is just like, so magically aligned to the things that we have been interested in pursuing through the spectrum. We met with them. We're like, oh my God this is amazing.

Marni: Perfect, a perfect collab. Any other collabs?

Laurel: So we have an upcoming event, called Skokie Show and Tell, which is really a lot what it sounds like.

Marni: I wonder what you're going to show and tell us.

Laurel: We invited community members to come and you know, bring an object or a photograph that, has some, you know, relevance to them, some connection to Skokie, like whether it was, you know, growing up in Skokie or when they moved to Skokie. And so Emily and Stephanie from the Skokie Heritage Museum are going to be, working with us for that program as well. They're going to bring some artifacts from their amazing collection.

Marni: That's so cool.

Laurel: Yeah. So…

Marni: I mean, you've collaborated, I think, with every department inside the library, you've collaborated with people outside the library. All the community members who have participated in this. This has been really huge while it's been going on for the last year. But I'm so glad that you are all here to share it with us today.

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Marni: Before you leave, I do have one more question. Do you have a book recommendation for our listeners?

Laurel: Indeed. I do.

Marni: Did you think about it?

Laurel: I thought about it actually, when I when you asked this question, I knew immediately what I would pick because this book is, it's very influential in my household. Right now.

Marni: Oh.  

Laurel: Yes.

Marni: What’s it called?

Laurel: So it's a called it's called “Woo Hoo! You’re Doing Great!” By Sandra Boynton You know, I'm a toddler mom. I have a three year old at home. And so Sandra Boynton is a very big deal in our house. She is a really fantastic picture book author. There's so much whimsy. And so.

Marni: Whimsy. We just need more Whimsy.

Maria: Whimsy and wisdom.

Laurel: Yes, whimsy and wisdom.

Marni: That's great.

Laurel: Got to have both. So, “Woo Hoo! You're Doing Great.” So it's a really enthusiastic chicken who goes around and, like, hypes people up. And that's literally I was telling Maria, that's how we stayed at my house where I'm like, Ryan, can you go grab, “Woo Hoo! You’re Doing Great”  And we also, like, quote it to each other, like, you know, we'll be in hard moments. My son will be working really hard on trying to get his pants on or something. And like, I'm like, I see how hard you're working, and he's getting really upset. And I'll just be like, “woo hoo! You're doing great”. And he, like, lights up. But he says to me, sometimes it's like, really the best thing. Yeah, it’s, it's awesome. So that's my recommendation.

Marni: Maria, do you have a book recommendation for us?

Maria: Yeah. So I just finished, one of the Newberry Honors books from this year, “The Nine Moons of Hanyu and Luli,” which is a fascinating book that takes place in 700 C.E., you know, during the Tang dynasty in China…

Marni: Oh, my God.  

Maria: Yeah, on the Silk Road. But all the although at the end of the book you discover we don't use the term Silk Road anymore. And then then also takes place in the great during the Great Depression in New York City and like the tenement areas, and it goes back and forth between…

Laurel: I love dual timelines.  

Maria: …these two long timelines, and there is an artifact that connects them.

Marni: That sounds so cool.

Maria: It is amazing. Both narratives are really beautiful. There's beautiful poetry in it. Yeah. I mean, it was just I loved, learning the history of both of those time periods. It was super cool. And I had just gone to the Tenement Museum in New York City recently, so that was even cooler…

Marni: You were like, I know what they're talking about.

Maria: Like seeing how people, lived and worked and supported each other, in different communities…

Marni: That’s so cool.  

Maria: Including in the Tang dynasty, which, like their main city, very much mirrored New York City in terms of like a grid system. So it was like really interesting to see the different parallels.

Marni: That's really cool.

Maria: Yeah.

Marni: Well, thank you both so much for being here today and sharing with us.

Laurel: Thanks for having us.

Marni: We're so glad that you could come. That's it for us this month. Remember to keep in touch with us. We'd love to hear from you. Email us at podcasts at Skokie library.info. And don't forget if you've enjoyed this episode of previous episodes. Rate and reviews on your favorite pod catcher. Byee! 

Show Notes
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Description

Librarians Laurel and Maria share the idea behind the Skokie Yearbook Project, a yearlong community-focused initiative, and some of their favorite moments from the past year.