If something involves books, reading, writing, or literacy, we'd love to make it an Open Books EVENT! Are you organizing a book sale, book swap, book club, writing group, story hour, or any other book/reading-themed event we can help with? Wonderful! Just let us know what you have in mind and how we can work together.
Here's what we've got coming up. Join us!
Looking specifically for events in the Open Books store? Check out the Store Events calendar!
Open Books Orientations
Open Books orientation sessions take place on the first and third Wednesdays of the month.Join us for a fun hour of getting to know each other and Open Books! We'll share the latest information on literacy programs and exciting opportunities for getting involved. New volunteers must attend before beginning a program.
The Chicago + Franklin stop on the Brown and Purple lines is a block away, and multiple bus routes are handy as well. Check
www.transitchicago.com
for full schedules. Metered street parking and pay lots also available nearby.
RSVP with your chosen date by filling out our volunteer form and get ready for a fun and informative time! We look forward to meeting you!
Valentines For Volunteers
We love our volunteers! If you are one of the amazingly generous and talented people helping Open Books spread the love of literacy, please join us for a party in your honor. Come meet fellow volunteers, get exclusive deals at the bookstore, and let us celebrate you!
There is nothing better than curling up at the end of a long day with a good book. But at Open Books, we really love movies too -- and so we are proud to announce that on the third Thursday of each month, we will be showing a new Film Movement movie in the store! Film Movement selects award-winning independent and foreign films from all over the world and shares them with us. It's a great way to learn about new places, people and cultures. Also, look for special store discounts on books that tie into the film!
Our first film: MINE
Hailed as "absorbing," "a must see," "Oscar material" and "the best movie at SXSW," MINE is a documentary about the essential bond between humans and animals, set against the backdrop of one of the worst natural disasters in modern U.S. history: Hurricane Katrina.
Presented annually by Young Chicago Authors, Louder Than A Bomb engages schools and community organizations from all over the Chicago area in workshops, showcases, panel discussions and a teen poetry slam. The poetry slam is an Olympic-style poetry contest, created in Chicago in 1985 and now an international phenomenon.
Join Open Books for a very special event for the writer and performer that lurks inside you! James Kennedy, the author of the YA fantasy "The Order of Odd-Fish," will perform scenes from the book, answer questions, and recreate with you the book's climactic "Dome of Doom" scene! Inspired by the scene, students will invent their own gods (with names like "Aznath, the Silver Kitten of Deceit"), rummage through chests of costumes and write their own baroque, ludicrous insults. Then we'll put on our own "Dome of Doom" style tournament in which the students pair off, announce the name of the god they've invented, exchange the ritualized threats that they've written in front of everyone, and then dance-fight each other (no touching) to insane fighting music! Winners will receive prizes. Losers will receive slightly less interesting prizes. This one-time workshop for youth, teens, and young-at-heart adults is not to be missed!
February 20 2-4 pm
Open Books - Literacy Center (with finale on stage in the Open Books store!) 213 W. Institute Pl. Suite 207
Come one, come all, to the very first Open Boxes Book Sale! This is your chance to browse and buy more than 10,000 of our donated books at insanely low prices: $1 each for paperbacks and kids' books, $2 each for hardcovers, and $25 for a tote bag full all the way to the top. Books will be refreshed every night and a festive atmosphere appropriate for all ages will reign supreme. Join us!
Few poets writing today are so closely identified with a place as is David Baker, who makes his particular locale–the Midwest–into a mirror for the human experience on a universal level. Baker currently holds the Thomas B. Fordham Chair of Creative Writing at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, where he is a professor of English. He also serves as poetry editor of the Kenyon Review and teaches regularly in the MFA program for writers at Warren Wilson College. His most recent book is Never-Ending Birds (W.W. Norton, 2009).
Open Books is proud to welcome the Poetry Foundation with this event. Come hear David Baker read at the Open Books store!
Calling all kids...and their parents! Come on over to Open Books any (or every!) Wednesday or Saturday morning for an hour of storytime and crafts with our wonderful volunteer readers.
Can you bejewel a birdhouse like none other? Do you have a unique vision where bookends are concerned? Are you well-versed in the ways of Mod Podge? We will be designing and decorating a fantastic array of goods to be sold in the Open Books store, and we would love to have your help!
We are now setting dates for Craft Nights in 2010. Want to come help? Get on the list by emailing Ava (azeligson@open-books.org)!
