Acorn Library Celebrates its 50th Anniversary with Style

We live in an age of information. We have access to almost endless information right in the palm of our hands, literally. The internet and our ability to access it from smart phones is absolutely amazing. Our children have answers with the push of a button and a swipe of the mouse to questions that we, of past generations, had to go to the library for.

Ahhhh, the library. This was our internet encased in a building that smelled like old pages of vintage books and wisdom of the men and women who came before us. This was the place that held the world of information, a world of escape, a world of possibility. Once I was tall enough to reach all the drawers of the card catalog, the world was at my fingertips.

I had a love affair with the public library as a young child starting with story time. Sitting on the round carpet, in brown hues, I listened as the librarian read stories from far away places which filled my head with romantic notions of kings, queens and dragons. I remember the day I was granted my first library card. I had practiced writing my name in cursive for weeks just for the event. As I swirled my "M" with the librarian watching, I shook with excitement. She took the card to the typewriter behind the desk and typed my name on the beautiful piece of brown card-stock paper and when she was finished, she handed me my library card. I had made it.

The library is something that we all take for granted. As Oak Foresters, we know the building at the corner of James and Central is our public library. With a drivers license and a few utility bills, we nonchalantly walk into the doors and within minutes, we have a card and access to all and any of the wonderful books that we want. We also have access to a multitude of other services like computers, copy machines, movies, books on internet to name a few. What you don't know, is that Acorn Library had very humble beginnings and started as a vision in the minds of a handful of Oak Forest resident.

Beginning in 1964, Faun Hill decided that a library was a good idea for her small city of Oak Forest. Oak Forest was growing rapidly with many children as residents. She believed the city needed culture as well as other amenities that growing cities required to become effective for its residents. She had no money, not a lot of support but she had a vision. Over the next 4 years, a group of residents spearheaded by Faun Hill came together and what began as a vision, became Acorn library.

They created the Oak Forest Library Council which consisted of just four people and their goal was to create a library. Keep in mind, that they had no idea how to do this. First things, first, they needed a name. They ran a contest at the Oak Forest elementary schools and Richard Krep, a second grader from Scarlet Oak Elementary School won the honor with the name Acorn Library. He picked this name because, "It would start small, and grow big." He garnished the bragging rights to say he named the library and his school, received a dictionary. This was a big deal for little Richard who was featured in 3 local newspapers.

They then needed books and some money. They ran the "Bucks and Book" campaign where they asked residents of Oak Forest to donate any books they could and donate money. They acquired about 6,000 books when it was all finished. The Oak Forest Hospital kindly donated space where the books could be housed until Acorn Library could find a home.

The Oak Forest Library Council decided it was time for official business. They proposed a referendum for the library. It would cost homeowners, 6 mill for each $100 of assessed property, which in layman's term equated to about $6 for every $10,000 of assessed value. This would be an uphill battle to convince the residents of Oak Forest to increase their taxes because no body like an increase in taxes. There was controversy surrounding this proposed referendum but the group held tough and kept informing its residences.

On Jan 22, 1966 the referendum went through, and officially the Oak Forest Library Commission was formed. They still had work to be done though. They had to wait for the tax money to come in, find a suitable location and building and move all the books there. It took almost another 2 years, but with determination and perseverance, The Acorn Library finally had a home and was officially open for business on March 1st, 1968.

In the first week Acorn Public Library, they had a circulation of 3,000 books, issued 1,100 library cards to children and another 500 cards to adults. And just like Richard Krep said, Acorn library has continued to grow since that day.

One of the impressionable children who wandered among the stacks of the Acorn Library that Mrs. Faun Hill fought for all those years, was George Saunders. You might not recognize his name but he is quite a big wig in the literary world. George Saunders is a short story writer and author of the novel Lincoln in the Bardo, for which he won the 2017 Man Booker Prize, an award given each year for the best original novel written in the English language and published in the UK.

He is the second American to win the prestigious Man Booker Prize since its establishment in 1969. Mr. George Saunders is an alumni from Oak Forest High School and grew his love of reading and all things literature, right in the stacks of Acorn Library.

When Zachary Musil, the director of the Acorn Library, contacted Mr. Saunders to see if he wanted to be part of the celebration, he penned a letter back to Mr. Musil to tell the importance of Acorn Library in his life. Please click here to see the full letter. The letter and sentiment in his words is so eloquent and moving. He puts into words the importance of a local library to young and hopeful minds. He described the love that children, including myself, have felt inside the walls of a library. Mr. George Saunders wrote,

"what is inspiring about ... Acorn Library is its simple and profound mission: to make knowledge readily available to everyone, regardless of class, color, ethnicity – to everyone. It is the cornerstone of our democracy that even someone struggling financially; even someone using every spare minute to provide a livelihood for her or his family; even someone who is part of an historically oppressed group; even, well…anyone has the right to put herself into connection with the truth (historical truth, scientific truth, literary truth) and both be tested and expanded in the process."

The library is celebrating its 50th Anniversary and it is well deserved. I wonder the number of residents, adults and children alike, who have walked through its doors, only to walk out a better person.

And they are throwing a big party and everyone is invited. Here are all the details!

When: September 29th from 9am to close.

Where: The Acorn Library, 15624 Central Ave, Oak Forest, IL 60452

Ages: ALL!

Scheduled Activities:

• 11AM: Acorn piñata for children 9 and younger
• 2PM: 25 Year Time Capsule Closing Ceremony

Activities throughout the Day:

• Scavenger Hunt through Acorn’s History--Completion earns you a raffle ticket for a prize (one entry per person)!
• Local Artist Collections
• Squirrel Puppet Craft for Kids
• Photo Opportunities
• Debut of 50th Anniversary Library Video Interviews Project

So come out and celebrate this wonderful event!

Board of Trustees for the Acorn Library:
President: Bradley Duff-Hudkins
Secretary: James Richmond
Treasurer: Ann Harsy
Trustees: Kimberly Duffy, Jacqueline Muscarella, Barbara Rhodes, Mary Walter