As she read on a bench April 15 in Scoville Park, librarian Rose Barnes, 33, of Chicago answered a few questions for the Oak Leaves.
Q: What’s your occupation?
A: I’m an adult and teen services librarian at the Oak Park Public Library, and my area of practice is adult and teen digital learning.
Q: Are you the librarian in the promotional photos for the Beer Shop book club?
A: That’s me. It’s a new book club, in its third month, and it’s pretty popular. It’s just a book club, and it’s at a bar. It’s drawn people who might not have been interested in a more traditional book club. Right now, it’s the perfect size for the Beer Shop.
Q: Favorite local restaurant or shop?
A: I really like that bakery, Spilt Milk. I make pies, so I like seeing pie shops open up. And Grape Leaves. It’s close to the library, locally owned, it’s fresh. You can tell that they put time into their cooking.
Q: Travel destination of choice?
A: The best place I’ve ever been is Cambodia. I’m going to Japan in October. I’m Japanese, so I go every two years with my family. I may be going to Vietnam. I travel a lot in Asia.
Q: Best parts about travel there?
A: Eating. I totally just like the food. In Cambodia, the temples, culture, the people. I did everything locally. It was beautiful there. In Japan, revisiting the places that feel like home.
Q: What upcoming library events are you looking forward to?
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A: This summer, I’m working on a STEAM camp for high school students, every Tuesday starting in June. They’ll create STEAM-centered projects and design them, and teach them to kids. And another staff member and I are running a beatbox program. We’ll teach teens how to create beats, music and tracks.
Caitlin Mullen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.