EVANSTON, ILL. – Resolve to make 2023 your best year ever – with a little help from your local library. Whether you’re trying to eat healthier, approach difficult conversations, give back to your community, or just experience more joy, you can find a program to get you started at the Evanston Public Library:
Harness the power of your story with children’s author Kwame Alexander
Sign up the whole family for Saying Yes to Your Story: A Conversation with Kwame Alexander, author of the Newbery Award winning book, The Crossover, Newbery Honor/Caldecott Medal winning book, The Undefeated, for an Illinois Libraries Present event for young people and their families. Kwame will share ways to say yes to your story and persist in the face of rejection, and he’ll energize our community to harness the power of words and storytelling for change! Wednesday, Feb. 8, 7-7:45 p.m. via Zoom.
Eat for a fuller, healthier life in this Northwestern mini-course
In just two nights, learn how to live longer and happier by eating for your heart at Diet, Heart Health, and Living a Full Life taught by pediatric cardiologist Dr. Barbara J. Deal and preventive adult cardiologist Dr. Stephen Devries. This non-credit mini-course produced by the Northwestern University Emeriti Organization includes short readings and insightful lectures for one the quickest, most important classes you’ll ever take! The first session is Wednesday, Jan. 18, 6-7:30 p.m. in person or virtual.
Incite joy with poet and essayist Ross Gay
Gay is the author of essay collection Inciting Joy, and winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. His first collection of essays, The Book of Delights, was released in 2019 and was a New York Times bestseller. Join him for Inciting Joy with Ross Gay when he’ll be in conversation with Dan “Sully” Sullivan, a three-time Chicago Poetry Slam Champion. Wednesday, Jan. 11, 7-8 p.m. via Zoom.
Stay accountable with a yearlong cohort
Make New Year’s resolutions but don’t always follow through with them? Get accountability all year long with Making 2023 a Year to Be. We’ll meet four times this year in a virtual space to share our intentions, celebrate our victories and encourage each other to make 2023 a year of curiosity, discovery, and self-love. Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2-3 p.m. via Zoom.
Tackle conversations about race with your family
EPL’s Dedicated to the Dream program is an invitation for curious families to grow together and have conversations about race through family-friendly, hands-on workshops. Each workshop incorporates art and play to affirm all shades of skin, explore cultural and racial identities, learn accurate history, and talk about the content and feelings that come up. This year’s Dedicated to the Dream program includes new formats for busy families, and the first in-person Getting Started Workshops are Saturday, Jan. 21, 3:30 to 6 p.m., and Tuesday, Feb. 7, 5:30 to 8 p.m. Learn more and register.
Find even more programs for all ages at epl.org/events.
