A Letter from the Library Board President: New Leadership, New Perspectives

Hello Lake Bluff neighbors,                                  

As the current President of the Lake Bluff Public Library Board of Trustees, I wanted to reach out and provide an update. After serving as Secretary and Vice-President, I was elected President almost a year ago. I can tell you, it has been a rewarding way to give back after a 30-year career with Abbott/AbbVie.   

New resource: Rosetta Stone

Learn another language with your Library card

Lake Bluff Public Library now provides free access to Rosetta Stone to learn a new language from the comfort of your home. You can use it to refine your grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and conversation skills in 30 distinct languages. Learning a new language can expand job prospects, prepare for travel and strengthen community connections with neighbors. 

Languages include

  • Spanish (Latin America or Spain)
  • English (American or British)
  • French
  • Chinese (Mandarin)
  • German
  • Hebrew
  • Latin

Core Features

New database: Educate Station

Educate Station provides ready-to-use, hands-on activities for kids to do at home or at school. Their content is created by a team of passionate educators, who bring expertise, teaching credentials, and years of experience as classroom teachers and curriculum developers. The Educate Station team is committed to inspiring joyful learning and supporting kids, teachers, and parents.

Educate Stations offers Prekindergarten through 5th grade learning plans, worksheets, and activities on the following topics:

Library Receives $84,474 in PPRT payments from Village

On Friday, January 26, the Village of Lake Bluff disbursed $84,474 to the Lake Bluff Public Library for its share of Personal Property Replacement Taxes (PPRT) going back to 1980. As Library Board President Bonnie Shaul states, “The Village Board showed tremendous commitment in swiftly correcting this inadvertent error and acknowledging that, despite current financial challenges, the Lake Bluff Public Library will remain a core asset of the Lake Bluff community years into the future.”

Financial Context

HVAC Updates

August 29, 2024 

Lake Bluff Library will open as scheduled at 10 am today Thursday, August 29. After an emergency visit from the Library’s HVAC contractor yesterday afternoon, the building’s air conditioning unit was successfully repaired. Temperatures have now returned to safe levels for staff and public. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience to the community, and appreciate your understanding. We look forward to seeing you at the Library soon!

August 28, 2024 

A message from the Friends of the Library

Dear Friend,

What an exciting year we’ve had at Lake Bluff Library! We hope you were able to make it to one of our phenomenal programs or stop by and see some of the contributions of the Friends of the Lake Bluff Library!

You are part of an incredibly strong community that works together to provide philanthropic support for special projects, programs and building needs as they arise and further allows us to continue to improve our library. The library is a gem in our community, and we are grateful for your generosity.