In celebration of National Library Week, we are offering a free t-shirt for every $25 donated to the Chicago Public Library Foundation. Support your local library – and get a really cool shirt!
Did you know that the Chicago Public Library was created directly from the ashes of the great Chicago Fire? Fun Fact: After Chicago’s Great Fire of October 8, 1871, A.H. Burgess of London proposed an “English Book Donation,” which he described, two months later, in the Chicago Tribune as follows: “I propose that England should present a Free Library to Chicago, to remain there as a mark of sympathy now, and a keepsake and a token of true brotherly kindness forever…”.
8,000 books and several meetings later, the Illinois Library Act of 1872 came into effect, authorizing cities to establish tax-supported libraries throughout Illinois. This week, we celebrate this act – and libraries at large.
April 10 – 16 hails National Library Week! First introduced in 1958, this is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and library workers and to promote library use and support. And the theme couldn’t be more appropriate: “Libraries Transform”.
Join us as we celebrate Chicago libraries and how they play such an integral role in transforming our minds and imaginations day in and day out. Now it’s our turn to transform those that have transformed us. Donate to the Chicago Public Library Foundation, and for every $25 donation made during National Library Week, you will receive a Chicago Public Library Foundation t-shirt (one per donor)!
Spread the word by sharing #NationalLibraryWeek and #ChiNationalLibraryWeek on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
