Coming Together (formerly Coming Together in Skokie & Niles Township) is a community partnership between Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles, and Skokie that aims to build bridges of knowledge and understanding between people of different groups and ages. Each year for the past decade, Coming Together has highlighted a different topic or culture. In 2020, we will explore something we all have in common: the stories of our journeys to Niles Township.
Talk to any person in Niles Township and they’ll have a story for how they or their family got here. Some are stories of recent immigration, others of being transported to these lands against their will. Still others are stories of fleeing oppression or relocating to seek greater prosperity. Our origin stories are as central to who we are as the cultures we are a part of and celebrate.
I have the privilege of serving on the Coming Together Planning and Core Texts committees. These groups work diligently all year to develop fun and interesting programs and select compelling books that are as robust and diverse as the communities we serve. Many of this year’s book selections are featured in the Library’s regular book clubs and storytimes, as well as other Coming Together programming (listed below).
How you can participate
Read
You can learn about this year's featured books on the Coming Together website or in our Staff Recommendations. For further reading along the theme of "Journeys", check out the lists of supplemental books that are available at the Library:
- Adults
- Teens/High School
- Upper Elementary (Grades 6-8)
- Middle Elementary (Grades 3-5)
- Early Elementary (Grades K-2)
Attend
On the Coming Together website you can find a full calendar of events at other Niles Township locations. All events are free and open to the public. Outside of MGPL's events, I am most excited about the Opening Ceremony on Sunday, January 26 at Niles West High School and An Evening with Jasmine Warga—author of the Coming Together 2020 featured book Other Words for Home—on Wednesday, February 5 at East Prairie Elementary School.
Share
We also encourage you to share your own personal and family stories that touch on how you came to be in Niles Township and what it’s like to call this community “home.” You can share artwork, a family recipe, a 6-word story, or a short personal statement responding to one of several prompts.
With programming running from January 26 through mid-March, Coming Together: Journeys to Niles Township has opportunities for everyone to join in connecting with our neighbors and celebrating what makes Morton Grove and Niles Township such a remarkable place to live, work, and learn.
Brittany Drehobl is a Youth Services Librarian and School Liaison at the Morton Grove Public Library.
Coming Together Programs at MGPL
(R) = registration required
Family Journeys Storytime
Saturday, February 1, 2 pm
Families and all ages
Mother-Daughter Book Club: Front Desk by Kelly Yang (R)
Wednesday, February 5, 7 pm
Girls in grades 3-5
Mother-Daughter Book Club: Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga (R)
Wednesday, February 12, 7 pm
Girls in grades 5-7
LitLounge: They Called Us Enemy by George Takei
Wednesday, February 12, 7:30 pm
Adults
Guys Read: Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome (R)
Tuesday, February 18, 7 pm
Guys in grades 4-6
Between the Lines: American Like Me by America Ferrera
Thursday, February 20, 10 am & Tuesday, February 25, 7 pm
Teens and adults
Storytelling @ MGPL: 80 Minutes Around the World
Sunday, March 8, 2020, 2 pm
All ages