DeKalb County Briefs

Chronicle Media Staff
An artist's rendering of the addition to the existing DeKalb Public Library's Haish Memorial Library, 309 Oak St., structure. The new wing will replicate the Art Deco design of the original building, A Grander Opening is planned for Sept. 10.

An artist’s rendering of the addition to the existing DeKalb Public Library’s Haish Memorial Library, 309 Oak St., structure. The new wing will replicate the Art Deco design of the original building, A Grander Opening is planned for Sept. 10.

DeKALB

 

DeKalb Public Library prepares for grand reopening

The DeKalb Public Library is closed thought Sept. 9, as it readies for the grand reopening of the much anticipated Haish Memorial Library building, 309 Oak St.

Its Sept. 10 reopening, called Grander Opening Day, will mark the completion of the two-year, $25.3 million expansion and restoration project that began in June 2014.

Patrons are asked to make different arrangements for holds to be picked up at other local libraries.

The Haish building will house the new Teen Room, Local History Room, KishHealth System Computer Lab, four adult study rooms and the Nancy D. Castle Collaboration Studio. It also will be home to the large-print, graphic novel, teen and local history collections.

The Nancy D. Castle Collaboration Studio, the most technology savvy room in the library, will have three 3-D printers, an Access Share system for group projects, and Vydeo, a program designed to allow for virtual interviews and conference calls.

On Grander Opening Day, the ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. It will consist of keynote speakers, a time capsule dedication and the symbolic ribbon-cutting.

After the ceremony, the remainder of the day will be dedicated to programming for all ages. The Local History Room will feature two genealogy programs, “Who’s been sleeping in my house?” at 11 a.m. and “Beginning Genealogy Research” at 2 p.m. Both programs will be led by local historian Steve Bigolin and local history librarian Teresa Iversen.

The Friends of the DeKalb Public Library will register members and sell books and other materials. The library will sell merchandise, including T-shirts, blankets, e-reader covers and more. For information, visit www.dkpl.org.

 

 

DeKalb Vets plan to honor heroes Sept. 10

Illinois AMVETS Post 90 will honor local heroes Sept. 10 with a day of activities: a blood drive and an honors ceremony at the post, 421 Oak St., DeKalb.

Both Patriot Day and MIA/POW Day fall within the month of September.

The blood drive will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Honors Ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. and feature a flag presentation and rifle salute. Stroker Red will perform starting at 3 p.m.

Honorees include members of the DeKalb police and fire departments and professionals at the KishHealth System, part of Northwestern Medicine. Attendees can help recognize these individuals with a personalized luminaria with their hero’s name.

Resource tables will be set up for veterans to learn about benefits they may have earned and how to receive them. The following groups also will have informational tables at the event: AMVETS Department of Illinois, Illinois AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary, Illinois Sons of AMVETS, DeKalb County Veterans Assistance Commission, Sycamore National Guard, the VFW, DeKalb Mayor John Rey and others.

For information and luminaria order form, visit www.AmvetsIL90.org.

To schedule a blood donation, visit www.heartlandbc.org.

 

 

DeKalb Public Library selling used computers

The DeKalb Public Library is making room for new computers by selling its old ones.

The used computers are a mix of HP microtower and small form factor machines. They have a fresh install of Windows 7, but no other software is installed. A couple are Intel i3 and I5 machines, the rest are Intel Core 2 processors. Hard drives vary between 80 and 400 GB space and RAM is between 2 and 4 GB.

These towers will come with a keyboard and a mouse all for the low price of $25. There is an assortment of LCD monitors that are also available in 15- to 19-inche sizes. Each monitor is also $25.

All sales are first come, first serve; and there are no guarantees or warranties. Email edithc@dkpl.org to arrange payment and pickup.

 

Whimsical art display is open in DeKalb

The Art Box is hosting “Arabesque,” an exhibition of short suites by local artists who will display whimsical art typically unseen during the course of day-to-day frame shop production and solo exhibitions. The exhibition will run through Oct. 6 at The Art Box, 308 E. Lincoln Hwy., DeKalb.

These suites of art are basically hidden treasures that cannot always be on display because of the size of the space at The Art Box. Included will be a suite of Japanese prints, turquoise jewelry, oils on canvas by West Coast artist Nancy Willis, a welcome to new dekalbgallery.com artist Carol Bingham, and new watercolors by Charlotte Rollman.

For information, contact Daniel Grych at (815) 758-0313 or dan@dekalbgallery.com.

 

 

GENOA

 

Genoa-Kingston District 424 was first to start new school year

School bells rang on Aug. 15 for Genoa-Kingston School District 424, the first district in DeKalb County to start the 2016-17 school year. District-wide, more than 1,700 students were welcomed back to classrooms in five school buildings.

Aug. 15 also marked the first day of Superintendent Joe Burgess’ last year with the school district. He is expected to retire next spring after nine years of leadership.

Genoa-Kingston High School welcomed new math teacher, Ethan Franklin, who will teach pre-calculus and trigonometry this year, his second as a teacher. He is a 2009 graduate of DeKalb High School and a 2015 graduate of Northern Illinois University with a degree in mathematics education. He taught last year at Byron Middle School in Byron in Ogle County.