There were plenty of libraries where Frank Murray could have worked but only the one in Evergreen Park could bring his career full circle.
As the new director of Evergreen Park Public Library, Murray, who moved with his family to the village when he was in sixth grade, is starting to put his own stamp on the facility. But he said things were already going strong when he took the helm June 21.
He credited Nicki Seidl, who recently retired after several decades as director, with making the library a great community resource.
“I really love where we’re at with programming and engagement,” Murray said. “I think the most unique thing I see, no matter what, is there are always people in the library. … It’s a very well used facility, from the computer labs to attendance in programs.”
Murray was hired for his first library job by Seidl in 2009, becoming a circulation/reference assistant in 2009. From there he worked for two years as a librarian at Aurora Public Library, for seven years as head of Adult Services/Electronic Resources at Brookfield Public Library and a year and a half as library director at Itasca Community Library.
Then he got the chance to come home.
“This was a big draw, being they’re my neighbors, fellow community members,” said Murray, noting his parents and immediate family still live in Evergreen Park. “I couldn’t pass it up.”
The library has changed plenty since Murray’s first stint in 2009, from technical advancements to Zoom and outside programming because of COVID-19.
This spring Jenna Harte-Wisniewski, head of Adult Services, started and manages a TikTok account for the library with the help of Claire Stanecki, Adult Services assistant. It’s been a hit, drawing 1,300 followers “all due to our creative, fun and involved staff,” Harte-Wisniewski said.
It’s been a lot of work, but she said she’s glad she took it on, as well as the library’s Instagram account. It’s something not all libraries have yet caught on to, and it includes keeping up with trends and incorporating library services, including free e-books and audiobooks, magazines, newspapers, and information on area museums.
“It really is a whole different view of libraries, which makes you want to jump in the car and run to your area library,” Wisniewski said.
When the pandemic started causing shut downs in 2020, Laura Meyer, head of Youth Services, began brainstorming ways to keep kids engaged remotely. So she asked her husband, a native of Poland, to reach out with Polish story hour videos posted on social media sites.
“We had to come up with content and I pretty much looked around my family to see who could help me out,” Meyer said. There isn’t a big Polish community in the neighborhood, “but when you do things online, it’s not just any more for your immediate population, it could be for other children who are from Poland.”
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Zigi Jasek, her husband, obliged. Two of the books he read were “Kolory” (“Colors”) and “Gdzie Jest Kemeleon” (“Where is Cameleon”). The Polish story hour draws roughly 400 views each month.
“I thought it was great,” Jasek said. “I enjoyed being able to expose kids to the Polish language via children’s literature.”
The library also offers monthly Spanish story hours, which typically draw about 10 families.
Staff have brought library services outside, too.
Meyer recently did painting outdoors with children at Circle Park. There are also stories in the park, a sewing club in a tent behind the library, fun runs and balloon tosses.
The library has also been reaching out with a pedal-operated “Trike-a-Delic Rider,” which delivers books and programming to various areas in the village, including farmers markets.
“It’s something we’ve had such great success with that we’ll try to include that in the future,” Murray said.
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.