At Exelon, we take pride in powering the communities we serve and, in turn, empowering the people and institutions in those communities.
We’re particularly passionate about enriching children’s lives through early learning. That’s why we were so pleased to partner on an amazing redesign of the Thomas Hughes Children’s Library at the Harold Washington Library Center, which recently reopened in our hometown of Chicago.
Exelon teamed up with Chicago Public Library (CPL), the Chicago Public Library Foundation, Public Building Commission and Mayor Rahm Emanuel for this 24,000-square-foot, forward-thinking early learning play space. The Gensler-designed space combines traditional library services with play-based learning and hands-on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) programs.
Exelon’s grant will also support 14 additional early learning play spaces at neighborhood library branches across Chicago—and there’s even more opportunity for growth, as Mayor Emanuel is committed to expanding early childhood programs at all 80 CPL locations. That’s a lot of ground to cover, and a lot of families to reach.
More About the Early Learning Partnership
Exelon’s investments include our enthusiastic employees, who broke records in 2016 by donating their time and talents with 170,000 volunteer hours across the country to hundreds of partnering organizations. Our Illinois utility, ComEd, also has about 6,000 employees devoted to community service, so our involvement with these early learning play spaces doesn’t end with the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Together, Exelon and the Chicago Public Library system are providing hometown kids the freedom to explore different learning avenues with the best available resources. Our goal is to not only provide electricity for the Library’s lights, but also to empower Chicago’s children to reach new heights. We are confident that this partnership helps our city and our company by empowering the next generation of innovators to shape the energy industry of tomorrow.
Visit www.chipublib.org/childrens-library to plan your visit to the new Thomas Hughes Children’s Library today!
You can make a gift to support Chicago Public Library Foundation’s efforts to fund early learning initiatives and other education programs at Chicago Public Library with a donation of any amount here.
