This weekend, surround yourself with other bibliophiles in an atmosphere of good cheer and literary stimulation at the grand opening of the Open Books flagship bookstore and literacy center! Open Books will celebrate the inauguration of its nonprofit bookstore with an assortment of free events: puppet shows, Chicago author panels, children’s crafts, and the Story Bus.
What is Open Books?
As a nonprofit organization, Open Books promotes literacy in Chicago by mobilizing volunteers to work with children, teens, and adults. They work on reading and writing skills through a variety of community programs that Open Books has established: buddy reading, workshops, field trips, and virtual mentoring.
The Bookstore
Founder and Executive Director Stacy Ratner’s idea for Open Books was a "two-storied dream store: a funky, fun, colorful and eccentric treasure trove of 50,000+ used books on the first floor, with all proceeds benefiting a spectrum of unique adult and family literacy programs upstairs." The mission: to enrich lives through reading, writing, and the magical (or lasting, or remarkable, or joyous, etc.) power of used books. Finally, after years of hard work by a dedicated (and eccentric) staff and volunteers, the dream store has come true.
The Celebration
Open Books is dedicated to promoting literacy and sharing the love of books with people of all ages. This weekend’s festivities will appeal to children, teens, and adults, so bring the whole family! Highlights include:
- puppet show by the Blackbird Theatre Company
- Young Adult Author Panel with:
- James Kennedy - The Order of Odd-Fish
- Adam Selzer - So I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked it
- Daniel Kraus - The Monster Variations
- Claire Zulkey - An Off Year
- Children’s Bookmaking and Crafts
- Mystery Thriller Panel with:
- open mic reading series from participants of WeWrite, the writing workshop for adults
- Poetry Panel featuring: Kristy Bowen, Michael Kadela and Kathleen Rooney
- the Kohl McCormick Story Bus , a “a children's museum on wheels that visits classrooms in Chicago's low-income neighborhoods to get pre-k and kindergarten students excited about books”
Join Open Books this Saturday November 21 and Sunday November 22, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 213 W. Institute Place in Chicago. For more detailed information about the grand opening’s schedule of events, click here.
Like what you just read? Then subscribe to my page on Examiner.com for e-updates that will arrive right to your inbox when I post. It’s free and simple. Just click on the ‘subscribe button’ underneath my profile in the Literary Events section. And thanks for visiting!
Comments