For many years, the library’s Lunch & Learn series has provided a midday educational opportunity to lifelong learners.

Now, the library has expanded the concept to include live performers, virtual tours, and expert speakers to cover a broad range of cultural and historical topics. Plus, the series is online, allowing anyone who is interested to tune in and take a break during the day. 

The reinvented Lunchtime Series kicked off earlier this month with “I Feel Good! Hits of the ’60s,” an hour of music and storytelling. The programs continue next month with:

• They Shall Be Counted, an in-depth look at the poignant artwork created by Holocaust survivor Erich Lichtblau-Leskly — on October 5
• Autumn Desserts with Chef Maddox, including step-by-step instructions for making seasonal sweets — on October 14
• a multimedia tour of New York City’s Tenement Museum (pictured at top), revealing the daily life of immigrants between the 1860s and 1930s — on October 27

​November’s roster includes a look at the storied life of multi-talented entertainer Danny Kaye on the 9th and an art and architecture tour of Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral on the 19th. The series continues this winter.

All programs begin at 1 p.m., are free, open to the public, and take place online; registration is required.

View and register for Lunchtime Series programs. 

It's National Voter Registration Day and no better time to make sure you're prepared to cast your vote in the 2020 election. Voting is the right of every U.S. citizen who is at least 18 by Election Day. Every voice counts. Be sure you are heard.

To register, you must:

• be a U.S. citizen, 18 years old on or before the date of the next election (Nov. 3)
• live in your election precinct at least 30 days prior to Election Day
• not claim the right to vote anywhere else
• not be serving a sentence of confinement in any penal institution as a result of a conviction

Register:

Online: Before 11:59 PM on Oct. 18 for the Nov. 3 election.
By mail: Completed applications must be postmarked or delivered to the Lake County Clerk’s office by Oct. 6. 
In person: Call before visiting to check hours/availability of voter registration services at these sites.

To see if you're registered to vote at your current address, visit LakeVoterPower.info.

To find out when and where to vote or research the candidates and issues, visit the library's Voter's Guide.

The election may not be until April, but for those who wish to be part of the Vernon Area Public Library Board of Trustees, the process begins now. 

Prospective candidates for Vernon Area Public Library Trustee in the April 2021 Consolidated Election may pick up a candidate packet through curbside service or download required forms here: https://VAPLD.info/for-candidates

The packet includes a Statement of Candidacy, Petition for Nomination sheets, and a Statement of Economic Interests Form. 

To qualify to run, a prospective candidate must reside within the Vernon Area Public Library District and be registered to vote. A state law passed in August 2018 increases the residency requirement to one year and disqualifies candidates who owe the library money or have been convicted of a felony. Finally, the prospective candidate must also secure the signatures of at least 50 qualified voters who reside within the Vernon Area Public Library District on a Petition for Nomination. 

Prospective candidates may begin circulating nominating petitions beginning Tuesday, September 22, 2020. Helpful information about completing and filing nomination papers may be found at  https://VAPLD.info/for-candidates

Completed petition packets may be filed at the Library Annex no earlier than 9 a.m. on Monday, December 14, 2020, and no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, December 21, 2020. Candidates’ names will appear on the election ballot in the order in which their nominating papers are received at the library. A lottery may be used to determine order in some circumstances; see the State Board of Elections Candidates’ Guide for details.

Three of the board’s seven seats will be up for election in April. Two are for a six-year term; one is for a partial two-year term. All terms will commence on May 17, 2021.

It should be noted that all candidates for Library Trustee file for office on a nonpartisan basis. 

You miss browsing the shelves to find something interesting to check out. Good news: you have options...they just look a little different. But they are 100% safe. And you're sure to find something that piques your interest.

• Check out a Browsing Bundle: Fill out a brief form to tell us what you're interested in (format, subject, genre, author) and a trusted librarian will pull relevant items from the shelf, bag them up, and you'll be notified that they're ready for you to pick up curbside. All ages.
• View new releases, book club favorites, and what we're reading: Scroll down the library's homepage to browse these online shelves of highly anticipated new titles, can't-miss reads, and the books staff are into.
• Meet your next good book on the library's pages for readers: This is where avid readers on the library staff blog and where book discussion selections are announced. Pro tip: select the Book Discussions tab and scroll to the bottom to view past picks from talks hosted by the library; lots of great reading here.
• Subscribe to the library's Books & Authors emails. These newsletters are based on a theme of current interest, are filled with thoughtful recommendations, and arrive in your inbox two times a month.
• Sign up for Book News, monthly emails from SelectReads rounding up best sellers, new releases, or trending titles in the genre/s of your choice including fiction, nonfiction, mystery, and romance. 
• Get personalized reading recommendations: Tell us what you like to read and what you haven't liked; a library reading expert will get to work making a list of recommendations just for you. Fill out a brief online form; your customized list will arrive in your inbox shortly! All ages.
• Get recommendations for teen books: This extensive guide rounds up lots of genres including award winners, graphic novels & manga, and nonfiction. You don't have to be a teen to enjoy these top picks!

Get help with at-home learning in the Student Resources guide, a collection of tools for supporting your child's or teen's education. Each tab (for grades K–5, 6–8, and high school) includes:

• encyclopedias for guided or independent exploration
• subject-specific resources for in-depth research (grades 1–12)
• printable worksheets and activities from Scholastic's Teachables (pre-K–grade 8)
• one-on-one live help from trained pros at Tutor.com (grades 1–12)
• paper drop-off and review by a Tutor.com grade & subject expert
• math problem drop-off for help from a Tutor.com grade & subject expert

Your Vernon Area Library card gives you unlimited access to the resources listed in the guide. Check it out and...bookmark it!

Also, get tips and strategies for managing your own work while supporting your student/s learning remotely:

Picking up or returning library materials? Drop off your donation for the Vernon Township Food Pantry at the same time.

Pull into the library's pickup lane, let a staff member know you have food items to donate to the pantry, and they'll wheel the bin to your car. Items especially needed now:

• canned fruit
• peanut butter, jelly
• ramen noodles
• pasta, pasta sauce
• canned meals (such as SpaghettiOs or RavioliOs)
• paper towels, toilet paper, tissues

To protect the quality of donated food, this collection will only take place when it's not raining. Learn more about the Vernon Township Food Pantry here.

Library services are now available seven days a week, with curbside pickup and librarian help available the same hours each day. Pick up materials you've reserved or talk/chat with an information professional:

Monday–Thursday 9 AM–7 PM
Friday & Saturday 9 AM–5 PM
Sunday 10 AM–5 PM
Though the building remains closed in the interest of community health, library staff are working daily to safely deliver contact-free services to all district residents.

If you don't have a library card yet, get one here.

​If you can't get to the library, request home delivery here. 

We look forward to serving you!

Like most things, from private homes to public spaces, Vernon Area Library looks much different now than it did before the pandemic. Closed to the public since March 13, the building’s inside spaces have been changed to comply with COVID-19 guidelines from the Illinois Department of Public Health and other authorities. With patrons now picking up library materials curbside, few people other than library employees have seen the extensive changes that have taken place since spring to protect the health and well-being of staff and the community.

The changes that library employees see each day include one-way aisles through shelving, reconfigured workspaces and protective dividers between desks. When the building was renovated in 2013, only the public spaces were updated. The workrooms remain as they were when the library was built in 1994, which means that pre-pandemic, the staff worked in close quarters. To comply with 2020’s social distancing requirements, some workstations have been moved to public spaces.

Additionally, all staff must follow a strict new entry process when they arrive for work. They may only enter on their schedule, must wash their hands after clocking in and put on the PPE (personal protective equipment) needed for their particular job. The staff break room is off-limits to minimize group gatherings. In-person work shifts have been shortened to minimize each employee’s exposure risk and to avoid the need for a meal break without a break room. (Work schedules for staff working remotely remain unchanged.)

The public meeting room, previously the site of most library programs, is now being used as a staging area for quarantining returned books and other materials. A study conducted by the global library cooperative OCLC, the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the research firm Battelle found that the coronavirus may persist on library materials for five days or more. This library quarantines returned materials for seven days before checking them in — a move that improves safety for both library employees and the public.

Additionally, the library exposes returned materials to a blast of ultraviolet light for 60 minutes before they are checked in. Multiple studies have shown that UV light kills the coronavirus, providing employees with further assurance that the books, DVDs and magazines they handle are safe to touch. 

Other changes are visible only to library maintenance staff. These include improvements to the heating and cooling system that allow it to take in up to 400% more fresh air than previously, installing ultraviolet sanitizers in air ducts and outfitting the heating and cooling system with highly effective air filters — MERV-13, which catch a variety of irritants like pollen and dust mites, but also trap virus carriers.

Vernon Area Library is a beloved destination for all members of the community. It is for this reason that the building remains closed to best prevent transmission of disease. “We do what we do because we love serving the public,” said library Director Cynthia Fuerst. “And we look forward to seeing patrons again. Right now, we’re working hard to provide every service that can be provided safely. With the daily case rate in the Chicago suburbs rising, we’re confident that keeping the building closed is the right thing to do.”

It was a memorable ten weeks of reading, offline adventures, and online diversions and events...all part of the library’s first-ever at-home reading program, Summer Camp 2020.

• 455 of you joined in
• 2,411 badges were awarded
• your reading time totaled 557,029 minutes!

That means you beat the community reading goal (500,000 minutes) and our Read for Good sponsors are donating a total of $2,100 to these nonprofit organizations at work for the good of our communities: Lake County Covid Relief Fund, Stevenson: One Family, and Vernon Township Food Pantry.

Many thanks to our Read for Good sponsors for your generous support:

Buffalo Grove Bank & Trust ∙ Parent of three Stevenson alumni · Lincolnshire Rotary · Rivkin & Rivkin, LLC · In memory of Ralph Jensen · State Farm Buffalo Grove - Nick Wians · Populus XP, LLC · Marc & Michele Fenton · George Goldstein · Victoria Thompson · Cynthia Fuerst