Most weekends across Chicago, you’ll hear a phrase repeated, often shouted, inside your neighborhood library: “Change your hat!” It’s the moment when children call out for a new story from the Junior League of Chicago’s (JLC) Mad Hatters. The Mad Hatters use stories, songs, and silly hats to spark a love of reading among children in and outside of Chicago Public Library branches. This work reflects the Junior League’s longstanding commitment to literacy, and over 100 years of partnership with the Chicago Public Library.
Building on this legacy, we were honored to deepen our partnership this year through a new collaboration with Chicago Lights, the Chicago Public Library and the Chicago Public Library Foundation.
Together, we set out to refresh a student library,
expand access to high-quality books, and help young readers step into summer with stories
they chose themselves and a clear path to their local library branch.
The partnership began when Chicago Lights, whose K -12 tutoring program supports more than 150 students each week, identified a need to update its on-site library.
Over several weeks, volunteers cataloged more than 3,800 books to assess the library’s size, condition, and range across genres, formats, and age levels. In consultation with Chicago Lights, JLC members identified gaps across the collection, including a need for more middle grade fiction, and launched a targeted book drive, securing more than 80 new titles in less than a month. To ensure the refresh reflected best practices in youth literacy, Chicago Public Library Youth Librarians provided guidance on collection standards and helped shape the criteria used to select books for the drive.
“Our new members were instrumental in the success of this partnership, leading the effort to catalog the Chicago Lights library,” says Julie Friem, 2025-26 New Member Program Chair for the JLC. “As they rediscovered beloved childhood stories, they shared memories and reflected on how a love of reading had shaped their own lives. The experience gave them a meaningful opportunity to connect with one another while supporting an important literacy initiative. Later at the book fair, watching students eagerly choose books of their own brought that experience full circle and reinforced our shared commitment to inspiring the next generation of readers.”
The project culminated in a book giveaway for Chicago Lights students. Prior to the event, JLC volunteers sorted 1,500 donated books and selected titles that matched students’ age and interests. To kick off the giveaway, the Mad Hatters performed a lively show, and every child left with resources to connect them to their local CPL branch and several books of their own. In total, 300 books were distributed to 50 students.
For the Junior League of Chicago, this initiative reflects our mission to advance women’s leadership for meaningful community impact.
“At Chicago Lights Tutoring and Summer Day, we see every day how books can spark curiosity, build confidence, and open doors to new possibilities. This partnership with the Junior League of Chicago, the Chicago Public Library, and the Chicago Public Library Foundation gave our students more than books,” says Armedia Houston, Director of Tutoring and Summer Day at Chicago Lights. “It strengthened our library, helped children build personal collections of books they could call their own, and connected families with the incredible resources available through their neighborhood libraries. We are deeply grateful to our partners for helping make literacy more accessible and for investing in the curiosity, confidence, and lifelong learning of every child we serve.”
We are grateful for the opportunity to work alongside partners like Chicago Lights, Chicago Public Library and the Chicago Public Library Foundation to help young people across the city discover books that inspire them and build lasting connections to libraries.