Putting on a puppet show in Kids' World

On February 10, libraries across the state took photos of the happenings - big and small - at their libraries. It was part of an intiative by the Illinois Library Association to show how valuable libraries are to their communities. Putting on a puppet show is just one of the things that you can do at the Library.  Click here for a quick look at some other ways the Library is used every day.

Arlington Heights Memorial Library is given the highest rating – 5 Stars – in a national ranking called “America’s Star Libraries” released by the Library Journal Index of Public Library Service. Only 1.1% of public libraries in the nation were given this distinctive 5-star rating. The top libraries in each category—grouped by operating expenditures—get five-, four-, and three-star ratings. The ratings were determined by four reliable statistics that libraries provide to their states to illustrate how each library is used in these service areas: • How many times a year did the average person take out a book, audiobook, DVD or other item from the library? • How many times did they come to the library? • How many times did they attend a program? • How often did they use a public-access computer? “America’s Star Libraries index is based on the only kind of performance that matters: what services a library delivers to its users,” says Paula Moore, library director of AHML, where she has worked since 1991. “We are very proud to be the only single-facilty library in Illinois to receive the prestigious 5-star rating,” Moore adds. “It’s a tribute to the longstanding commitment of the library board, our outstanding staff, and the residents who value and visit the library. The people of Arlington Heights love their library and have made it the community treasure it is. This rating affirms our passion for providing unparalled customer service and adding value to the lives of our residents.” Other Illinois public libraries also named as 5-star libraries were the Schaumburg Township and Naperville District Libraries, which serve larger populations with their branch library systems. Receving a 4-star rating was Skokie Public Library, and receiving a 3-star rating were the Barrington District and Des Plaines Public Libraries. See the index of all 7,115 national libraries rated. To visit the What's Up at the Library blog homepage, click here.

Who knew that our summer reading theme, "Read on the Wild Side" would be so popular? Even  bees are swarming to the Library to participate. Apparently this is the season for honey bees to swarm and find new places to live, and one such group chose a tree in the Library's parking lot  for a rest stop. An alert group of shelvers spotted the bees on their way to work on Friday evening, and contacted Security staff members John Beres and Chuck Watson who roped off the area. Exterminators were called, but since this was a group of honey bees, they instead contacted beekeeper Ken Haller. Haller owns Viking Honey Farm and is the volunteer beekeeper at River Trails Nature Center. He came on Saturday afternoon, and with the help of maintenance worker Tom Scuderi, removed the bees. He estimated that it was a swarm of 20,000–30,000 bees. After spraying them with sugar water, he removed surrounding branches and finally the branch that held the bees and shook them into a box that he had brought. Haller assured the group of onlookers(who were expecting to see him in protective clothing) that swarming bees rarely sting people - especially on a sunny day. The bees swarm temporarily while they search for a permanent nest site. This particular group will now have a new home at the River Trails Nature Center. And proving his assertion that the bees would not sting, Haller calmly placed them in his car and drove them to their new home - leaving the Library just a little less "wild" this summer.