Reading is Revolutionary! You’ll see this theme on our float during the FunDay Parade this Saturday, June 27. Be sure to wave as Benjamin Franklin, the founder of public libraries as we know them today, and Thomas Jefferson, who believed books were “vital” to his “education and well-being” drive by. After the parade, be sure to find our table at West Side Park for a treat and a prize. The Friends of the Tolono Library will be with us as well!
Songs can also be Revolutionary. On Tuesday, June 30 from 4:30-5:30 join us at the library as Rhodes Scholar Speaker, Chris Vallillo performs his program “The Power of Song in Democracy.” This program “is a celebration of our country’s 250th anniversary. It explores how music was used as a political and social tool throughout the history of our nation…In this program, Chris Vallillo performs a wide range of material, from the Revolutionary War, through the political songs of the 19th century, the Dust Bowl ballads of Woody Guthrie, right on up to the protest songs of the 50s and 60s. Combining well-known and obscure pieces, Vallillo shares the music, history, and the back stories of the music that shaped the course of our nation over the past 250 years on a variety of historic instruments, including guitar, skinhead banjo, Dobro, and others,” (ilhumanities.org). Registration for this program is appreciated, so please call the library or visit our website to let us know you’re coming!
As we lead up to our nation’s 250th birthday, we also have a special presentation during this week’s Senior Coffee Talk on Wednesday, July 1 from 9:00-10:00. During this time, we will be joined by the Champaign Genealogical Society who will present on getting started researching your family tree. After coffee talk, stick around with the Tolono Historical Society and view some of the completed family trees they have collected from local residents who have traced their lineage back to the Revolutionary War.
Don’t forget to keep logging your minutes for the Summer Reading Challenge! For more information on upcoming program and to see all of the programs happening this week, please visit our website at tolonolibrary.org/events.