I've been basking in an afterglow that has lasted an entire two weeks. What could give such a long lasting warm feeling you ask. Rock the Stacks. Rock the Stacks was a two day musical extravaganza featuring 17 bands, some still together, some reunited just for this event after acrimonious break-ups. Thanks to an anti-trust class action suit, our Library received money to be used for "musical" purposes. Rather than spend all of it on new CDs and such, we set aside some to fulfill a different mission. I'm a strong believer that a public library should be more than a location where citizens get to experience the work of people from long ago or far away, important as that purpose is. This is after all the "KANKAKEE" Public Library. Shouldn't some of the content here be by the people of Kankakee themselves? Of course, some old grumps complained about Rock the Stacks when they saw the posters. To them Libraries are places where ideas go to die. Our target audience is the young and young at heart who want a place where they can see what is vital about this community. We weren't wrong. For days Twitter, and Facebook, and Flickr and YouTube were alive with content about how exciting and forward thinking Kankakee is, not just the Library, but the entire City of Kankakee. When's the last time you heard a 20 year-old in your area say, "My town is awesome"? That is an afterglow that can last generations.

I'm not in the "market" of making endorsements (I am in the market of making bad puns), but I am so moved by my local farmers' market that I feel compelled to blog about it. Today was the first day of the spring Kankakee Farmers' Market, where about 15 farmers and vendors from the community and outlying areas came to sell their potted plants, herbs, meats, fresh baked goods, cheeses, and even organic dog biscuits! The summer market starts later in May where there will be about twice the amount of vendors in full swing with produce and much more. These are truly the most amazing people who frequent the market - both the farmers and the customers! If ever I'm feeling down about anything, the local farmers' market is like comfort food for the soul. The kindness and generousity of the vendors is enough to make anyone want to move to the community. And the customers' loyalty to their favorite vendors and their desire to keep their hard-earned dollars in the community is in a word....wonderful. You may be wondering what this has to do with the library and the answer is EVERYTHING! Public libraries should be as much a part of the community as a local farmers' market is. This morning I spent a few hours helping out and passing out market flyers (with strategically placed advertisement on the back promoting a library program for next week). Knowing the local vendors and customers has been tremendously helpful to me in getting the word out about our library programming....not to mention, it's just plain fun. My experience has taught me that the dedication of the farmers' market customers is the same dedication that library patrons have - and they are often the same target audience. So please support your local farmers and shop locally at your farmers' market - and then head to your library (preferably mine) and put your tax dollars to work.

Allison Beasley
Head of Adult Services

I've made several attempts at blogging over the past few months, but the start of every post comes to a rather abrupt end when my phone buzzes, someone comes in my office, or I suddenly remember a whole slew of things I've forgotten to do that day. The point is...it's busy here at KPL. Within the last 4 months, our director has gone on to greener pastures (well, they are likely snowier pastures right now like most of Northern Illinois), our city has instituted a hiring freeze due to the recession, and we've elected Kankakee's first female mayor, Nina Epstein! Steve Bertrand, our assistant director, has been named director now and KPL continues its quest to be fabulous in all ways! Once again, my phone is buzzing and I'm remembering about 15 things that didn't get done today. Until next time....

Allison Beasley
Head of Adult Services

No. I've not fallen off the face of the Earth. As you might have guessed, I've gotten a bit overwhelmed by my duties as Acting Director. Whereas the days used to go by at a leisurely stroll, now they roar by at the speed of a drag racer. I have every intention of reviving "She Said/He Said" when everything returns to something like normal. I've even asked Adult Services Supervisor Allison Beasley to be the new "She" advertised in our blog title. Of course, I think the only person busier than I am in this library is Allison! Oh well, the Kankakee Public Library is known for one thing above all else, optimism. So do not lose faith loyal readers (both of you), we will be back with more to say about all things library and anything else that enters our odd noggins. Until then, keep your circs high and your fines low.

Steve Bertrand
Acting Director

As most of our readers probably already know, our Library is about to undergo a huge, and might I add scary, change. Our director and my co-conspirator here on She Said, He Said is leaving our library. Our Library Board, in what I hope is an act of wisdom, has named me Acting Director until a permanent successor can be named. I feel a lot like Commander Riker. In several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, he had command of the Enterprise either offered to him or forced on him. In every case he either turned it down or the heroic Captain Picard returned at the end of the hour to take back his familiar duties. Sadly, real life isn't like TV. Change is far more permanent. I won't go through all of Cindy's accomplishments and what she has meant to our library and to Kankakee at large. That has been covered extensively other places, as it should be. For me, it is as simple as this: my friend, my partner, and my mentor is moving away. It's time for her "Number One" to take the big chair, for a while anyway. Fortunately I have the best crew in Library Land to keep me from crashing into any planets.

Steve Bertrand
Soon to be Acting Director

I caught myself saying something to my seven year old son that I never thought I would utter: "Stop Reading!" It was followed by, "Go to sleep!" It was going on 9:30pm, his bedtime was 8:30pm and he had school the next day. It just doesn't seem right for a librarian to say, "Stop Reading!" The next morning my son was up before the sun was rising ....reading. I had to coax him away from his book to eat breakfast, to get dressed, to go to school. He triple checked his backpack to make sure the book was really in there before leaving the house. He finished the 225 page book in two days. My son has always enjoyed books, but this was his first time experiencing the almost magical connection of reading a really, really great book - all by himself. He preferred reading this book over TV and even video games. If you are lucky, you have come across such books, and you know the joy they bring. What is the title of the "best book ever written"? According to my son, it is: "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney.

Happy Reading
Cindy

As I write this, on October 15, 2008, CNN is reporting the DOW down 733 points after a week of losing 1,000 points. Americans are worrying about their homes, jobs and retirement funds. What about Libraries? Libraries in Illinois are funded by property taxes, and, as all the news-watchers out there know, the eye of this current economic hurricane is the mortgage crash and plummet of home values. A concurrent fall of income into our Libraries seems almost inevitable. In a way, I feel lucky. My job is safer than most. After all, the Library isn't likely to go out of business. Cindy did a little research and found that the mighty Kankakee Public Library was open throughout the decade of the Great Depression, but we can't find evidence of what cutbacks may have been made. Indeed, statistics show that during economic downturns, greater demand is put upon public services such as Libraries as people come in looking for free entertainment, job search resources and so on. Whether this is just another recession, such as the one in the late 70's, or folks are headed back to the soup lines, certainly Libraries are going to be asked to do more with less.

Steve Bertrand
Assistant Director