Join us this week to celebrate all things Library! Check out Library materials during National Library Week and enter a drawing to win a Roku Express! You can use a Roku Express to access Hoopla and Kanopy on your TV with your library card at home. Stream movies, documentaries, TV shows, and more!

Someone has forced all the characters out from their books and movies in the Library! Help get everyone back into their stories and figure out who's behind the chaos. Visit the Library’s Facebook page to solve the mystery!

In her book of true stories, I Give You Half the Road, writer Carol Spindel recounts the turbulent recent history of Ivory Coast by interweaving the lives of five people she has known since they were children -- a schoolteacher in a fast-growing city; an HIV-positive widow trying to hide her illness and support her sons; a diviner who speaks with spirits and sells bulletproof shirts; a scrap iron dealer who is successful despite being illiterate; and a young man who joins an armed rebellion and learns that war is a business.  This is also an American writer's memoir of the long-term relationship between her family and the Ivorian community she loves and learns from.

Carol Spindel has been revisiting, learning from, and writing about the same rural community in northern Ivory Coast since 1981. Her book about her first sojourn there, In the Shadow of the Sacred Grove, was a New York Times Notable Book. She is also the author of Dancing at Halftime: Sports and the Controversy Over American Indian Mascots as well as many essays and articles. She lives in Urbana, teaches nonfiction workshops at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, and is a longtime activist with the ACLU. Learn more at carolspindel.com.

The Goodwin Avenue Trio is comprised of pianist Chanmi Lee, clarinetist Andrew J. Buckley, and cellist Ethan Schlenker. The Trio has been applauded for their “spectacular phrasing, ensemble work, and artistry." This performance will feature works by Brahms, Mozart, and Muzcynski. 

Join us on Facebook for this event.

A special online panel discussion celebrating Nick Rudd’s Influences on the C-U music scene featuring Paul Chastain, Jeff Evans, Jason Finkelman, Todd Fletcher, Steve Lindstrom, Della Perrone, Brian Reedy, Mark Rubel, Steve Scariano, and Adam Schmitt.

For the next forty years, Nick Rudd’s influence on the Champaign-Urbana music scene was legendary. The musicians who worked with him throughout this period continually reveled in his engaging and thought-provoking lyrics and music performances which David Wisniewski called “poetry interwoven with music.” 

For more information, call 217-333-4577 or send an email to sousa@illinois.edu.

Sponsored by the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music and the Nick Rudd Music Fund at The Urbana Free Library Foundation.

Want to know how you can organize your genealogical research? Not quite sure how to create a timeline for your ancestor? Wonder if two people are really the same person? Using a spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel can help you organize and sort your data to streamline your research. This type of software can be a timesaver for any genealogist, beginner to advanced. Come join us on this night while Candace Wilmot walks us through (live) how she uses this tool to simplify her research process.

Cosponsored by the Champaign County Genealogical Society.

This month we'll be reading All Systems Red by Martha Wells. Book One in the award-winning Murderbot Diaries series.

Music performance on Facebook by The Data Waves.

The Data Waves are an instrumental funk band that got their start at the University of Illinois in 2016. They typically play funk-based grooves but write music in a variety of styles ranging from jazz fusion to hip hop. The Data Waves released their debut album in 2020 entitled 'Revolution,' featuring seven original compositions of the group.

Join us on Facebook for this event.

Are you looking forward to the return of migrating birds this Spring? There is so much to learn and enjoy about these diverse, colorful, and interesting creatures. In this program Rob Kanter will share photos of his own birding adventures, and he'll talk about what to watch for and where to go to see some of Champaign County's most interesting bird activity.  

Rob Kanter teaches courses in environmental writing and issues at the University of Illinois in the School of Earth, Society, and Environment.

Participants who register can get a kit at The Urbana Free Library (available starting April 19th). Come inside the Library to pick up your kit at the Circulation Desk on the 1st Floor, or you can call 217-367-4057 to schedule a Curbside Pickup. Just ask for the Wetland Wonders Kit.