We believe libraries are for everyone. To that end, we offer a range of access options so that every patron can feel welcome and safe when engaging with their library. 

To better serve patrons who are immunocompromised or at higher risk — or anyone who prefers an environment where everyone is wearing a mask — early entry for “mask required” access is available. The service is similar to special shopping hours offered by many retail stores.

Visitors may enter the library 30 minutes before opening to browse the shelves or use the computers or copy center with the comfort of knowing everyone in the space is wearing a mask. NEW: No signup is required. Just visit! Find hours at VAPLD.info/calendar or by calling the adult desk at 224-543-1485.

When you enter the library before hours, you agree that everyone over age 2 in your party will wear a properly fitting mask during this special access period. Library staff passing through spaces accessible by the public will also be masked.

Services during this hour are limited to unaided:

• shelf browsing
• self-service checkout (VAPLD card required)
• self-service public computer use (VAPLD card required)
• self-service copy center use (bring correct change, see Copy Center info for rates)

Personal assistance is not available. Contactless options are available during regular operating hours for library services such as account matters and reference assistance. Many library programs are offered online or with a choice of in-person or online attendance.

The library has prioritized health and safety of patrons and staff throughout the pandemic. Significant safety measures are in place at all times, including enhanced ventilation, a vaccine mandate for library employees, and constant monitoring of the local environment.

Your questions or feedback are welcomed. Contact us.

Words have power. Ideas have influence. To bring this message to residents, Vernon Area and other public libraries across Illinois are partnering to present “Saying ‘Yes’ to Your Story: A Conversation with Kwame Alexander” for young people and their families on Wednesday, February 8, from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. on Zoom. Admission is free. Sign up on Zoom to receive the link.

Alexander will share ways anyone can harness the power of words and storytelling for change. He will recount his own writing journey and offer encouragement and ideas of how to stay strong when faced with initial rejection.

Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, publisher and New York Times bestselling author of 36 books, including “Swing”; “Becoming Muhammad Ali,” coauthored with James Patterson; “Rebound,” which was shortlisted for the prestigious UK Carnegie Medal; The Caldecott Medal and Newbery Honor-winning picture book “The Undefeated,” illustrated by Kadir Nelson; and his Newbery Medal-winning middle grade novel, “The Crossover,” which is also a TV series on Disney+. A regular contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, Alexander is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and The Coretta Scott King Author Honor. In 2018, he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic in Ghana as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an international literacy program he co-founded. Alexander’s novel “The Door of No Return'' was featured at the 2022 National Book Festival.

This event is made possible by Illinois Libraries Present, a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events.

Kick off your new year with an online conversation about joy with best-selling essayist and award-winning poet Ross Gay, hosted by more than 200 Illinois public libraries.

Gay is the author of “Inciting Joy,” a collection of essays about centering the people and things we love and that bring us together. In these gorgeously written and timely pieces, Gay considers the joy we incite when we care for each other, especially during life’s inevitable hardships. Throughout “Inciting Joy,” he explores how we can practice recognizing and expanding that connection.

To bring this message to residents, Vernon Area and other public libraries across the state are partnering to present “Inciting Joy: A Conversation with Ross Gay” on Wednesday, January 11, from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. on Zoom. Performance poet Dan “Sully” Sullivan will join Ross in conversation. Admission is free.

Gay has also penned four books of poetry, including a National Book Critics Circle Award award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. His 2019 collection of essays, “The Book of Delights,” was a New York Times bestseller.

• Ross Gay in the library catalog
• Ross Gay in cloudLibrary 
• The Book of Delights no-wait audiobook on hoopla

Dan “Sully” Sullivan is a three-time Chicago Poetry Slam Champion. His poems and performances have been featured on HBO Def Poetry Jam, WGN Morning News, and National Public Radio. Sully’s first full-length book of poems, “The Blue Line Home,” is available from EM-Press.

This event is made possible by Illinois Libraries Present, a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events.

About Illinois Libraries Present

Illinois Libraries Present (ILP) debuted in 2022 as a way to bring virtual events with bestselling authors and diverse and esteemed speakers to communities across the state and counts more than 200 Illinois libraries as members. Joining forces for such events allow libraries to bring speakers to their communities that might not be possible due to budget constraints or production capabilities. ILP is funded in part by a grant awarded by the Illinois State Library, a department of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). 
​

Vernon Area Public Library is named among America’s Star Libraries for 2022, as announced by Library Journal this month. The distinction places the library in Lincolnshire among the top 20 public libraries in the U.S. in its budget category.

America’s Star Libraries is an annual ranking of public libraries by trade publication Library Journal. The index scores libraries according to amount of use, including in-person visits, circulation and use of electronic resources.

Among the more than 5,300 public libraries assessed for 2022, the top performers — "Star Libraries" — are assigned three, four, or five stars, much like Michelin Guide ratings. The result is a short list of public libraries nationwide that demonstrate the highest level of service to their communities. Vernon Area Public Library District received four stars.

“Libraries across the nation adapted services quickly to serve patrons during the first year of COVID. To be recognized by LJ for our work in 2020 is a wonderful honor. Our staff's connection to the community is a big part of our success,” said Library Director Anne Rasmussen.

2022 Star Library status was awarded to just 258 libraries nationwide. Neighboring Cook Memorial, Deerfield, Ela Area, and Indian Trails libraries also received recognition. 

Scores and ratings are based on the most recent data in the national database at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The data used for the 2022 rankings is from fiscal year 2020 — the first pandemic year.

During that measurement period, public libraries across the United States were affected dramatically by COVID, which changed and complicated the statistics for the year. Even so, Vernon Area ranked near the top.

At Vernon Area, door count and checkout of physical items decreased compared to previous years. Checkouts of digital materials such as e-books, downloadable audiobooks and streaming movies and TV increased. Program attendance remained level as staff quickly pivoted to online and attendees embraced the new format.

Jasmin Darznik is the New York Times bestselling author of three books, including The Bohemians, a novel that imagines the friendship between photographer Dorothea Lange and her Chinese American assistant in 1920s San Francisco. The Bohemians is this year's One Book, One Community selection. We had a chance to ask her a few questions:

You were born in Tehran and came to the U.S. as a small child. Lange was born on the East Coast and moved to San Francisco as a young woman. Are there elements of Dorothea’s story that you recognized in your own experience?

Having grown up in an immigrant family, I could well imagine the disorientation Lange must have felt when she was marooned in San Francisco in 1918. My telling of how she was robbed soon after she arrived in the city is true to the facts of her life, as is the larger narrative about how she fashioned a new life and a new self for herself once she came to California. I’m fascinated by how such accidents of history and circumstance shape us. Particularly for artists and writers these ruptures can change the course of one’s life. I really don't know if I would have become a writer if I hadn’t experienced immigration. It’s fundamental to how I see the world, a source of confusion and pain, but also of creativity. 

There is an interesting parallel between the way people accept photography as objectively true and the way people internalize historical fiction. How would you say the concept of “truth” relates to both photography and historical fiction writing? 

A photograph, no matter how seemingly documentary, is always also a reflection of the person who takes it. Historical fiction works in much the same way. What I see when I look back to the 1920s may differ quite radically from how others see it. When I looked at Dorothea Lange’s life my eye was drawn to the period of time when she was still finding herself. I was also intrigued by the mention of her Chinese American assistant. It occupies just a few paragraphs in her biography, but that relationship made me see not only Lange but her times in a different way. And yet there is a veracity to the tale, just as there is a veracity to a photograph. It's a version of her story that’s consonant with the known parts of her story. It's just that it draws on imagination to make it come alive.

Though this book is set more than 100 years ago, readers won’t have to work hard to find similarities to today. What wisdom or learning from the book do you hope readers might find useful in their own lives?
The idea of who is or can become American was hotly contested in the 1920s. That was a time of massive immigration, and it spurred white nationalist movements and anti-immigrant legislation. A hundred years later the fault lines of American history fall along those same lines. Racism and sexism are as much a part of our world as they were of Lange's. One thing that has changed is that we now have storytellers who're bringing unseen stories into the frame. That's definitely what most excites me as a novelist — that power to make the hidden parts of our history more visible.   

What’s next?

I'm working on a novel set in Old Hollywood. It's about an actress, so it has me exploring new worlds. Like the world of The Bohemians, there's glitter and glitz, but also a story of a woman coming into her own. Lots of work to go on it, but I'm enjoying the research and writing tremendously.

Meet Jasmin at the One Book grand finale author event on February 26 at Stevenson High School auditorium or on Zoom. Check out and read a copy of The Bohemians between now and then, and attend related book discussions, lectures, and performances at any participating library. Learn more at 1book.org.

​Vernon Area Public Library will join libraries across Illinois to host a virtual event with Midwest Made cookbook author Shauna Sever. Sever will discuss holiday baking with Chicago Tribune food critic and podcast host Louisa Chu. The event will be held on Zoom on Tuesday, December 13, at 7 p.m.

• ​SIGN UP

Shauna will share her love of food, baking, and some tips to make your holiday gatherings delicious. As a writer, Shauna’s work is best defined by her baking-centric cookbooks. Her fourth, Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland, was named among the Best Baking Cookbooks of 2019 by The New York Times.

The event is free and open to all. Signup is required.

The event with Shauna Sever is made possible by Illinois Libraries Present (ILP), a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events.  Illinois Libraries Present (ILP) debuted in 2022 as a way to bring virtual events with bestselling authors and diverse and esteemed speakers to communities across the state and counts more than 200 Illinois libraries as members. Joining forces for such events allow libraries to bring speakers to their communities that might not be possible due to budget constraints or production capabilities. ILP is funded in part by a grant awarded by the Illinois State Library, a department of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).

As consumer attention turns to winter holiday shopping, your library is ready to help with the booklovers on your list.

“When it comes to finding the right book for every reader, librarians are the experts,” said Library Director Anne Rasmussen.

The fifth annual Vernon Area Public Library Gift Guide is now available in print at the library or as a digital download from the library website. It includes 66 hand-picked recommendations of books published in 2022. 

The selections are thoughtful and diverse. Adult suggestions range from acclaimed fiction like Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson and Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel to must-read nonfiction like An Immense World by Ed Yong and The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man by Paul Newman.

There are also recommendations for teens, grade school kids and tots, including delightful reads like The Bad Seed Goes to the Library by Jory John and Don’t Eat Bees by Dev Petty.

Guides from past years are available on the library website, too:

• 2021 Gift Guide
• 2020 Gift Guide
• 2019 Gift Guide
• 2018 Gift Guide

The annual Gift Guide is just one great source of reading recommendations available to you at your library. Other self-service resources include:

• NoveList, a powerful book-specific search engine that you can log into using your library card number, 
• Book Talks, recommendations presented at local schools for readers in grades 1-8,
• Guide for Readers, reading recommendations from librarians

 
… or, just ask! We are always happy to have a conversation and make suggestions. Stop by the library for great ideas for every reader on your list.

“…a relentlessly curious and chipper tour guide to the underworld” — The New York Times​

Vernon Area Public Library is joining libraries across Illinois to host a virtual event with mortician, bestselling author and advocate for death acceptance Caitlin Doughty. Doughty will discuss the reform of Western funeral industry practices and more in conversation with Mark Bazer, host of WTTW’s “The Interview Show.” The event will be held on Zoom on Wednesday, November 16, at 7 p.m.
 
Doughty is the founder of a Los Angeles funeral home and the funeral reform collective “The Order of the Good Death,” which spawned the death positive movement. The effort has caused her to be regarded as a bête noire by the traditional funeral industry. Her educational web series, “Ask a Mortician,” has been viewed almost 250 million times. Doughty is also the author of the bestselling books Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (And Other Lessons from the Crematory), From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to find the Good Death, and Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? – Big Questions from Tiny Mortals.

Doughty will be joined in conversation with Mark Bazer. Bazer is the host and creator of WTTW’s “The Interview Show.” Filmed in a bar in Chicago, the series features conversations that are as substantive as they are entertaining.

The event with Caitlin Doughty is made possible by Illinois Libraries Present, a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events. 

“We’re looking forward to bringing this event to communities across Illinois,” said Jennifer Czajka, Arlington Heights Memorial Library Program Manager and a member of Illinois Libraries Present’s steering committee. “Caitlin is a leading expert in a field which unites us all and we look forward to learning about her unique body of work, which aims to destigmatize talking about death.”

“We’re excited to bring this event with Caitlin Doughty to our community,” said Vernon Area Public Library Program Coordinator Roz Topolski. “It will surely provide fresh ideas for our patrons to consider about this topic.”

“A Conversation with Caitlin Doughty” will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 16. The online event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Sign up on Zoom or call 224-543-1485. 

About Illinois Libraries Present

Illinois Libraries Present (ILP) debuted in 2022 as a way to bring virtual events with bestselling authors and diverse and esteemed speakers to communities across the state and counts more than 200 Illinois libraries as members. Joining forces for such events allow libraries to bring speakers to their communities that might not be possible due to budget constraints or production capabilities. ILP is funded in part by a grant awarded by the Illinois State Library, a department of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).