Maze Branch Library is a civic jewel, a “third place” for sustaining an unusually active and cohesive community. And since the days of Adele Maze, the library has been an especially important gathering place for children and their parents and caregivers.
Maze’s “Little House,” finally defunct after many decades of supporting countless climbing toddlers and picture books, still stirs emotions in the hearts of many millennials.
In the decade I worked there, I worked with Carolyn DeCoursey, now retiring after years of service, to start a successful book discussion group for elementary-age patrons, which we were told was the first such program in a Chicagoland library. The young people in those groups, though the first generation born into ever-present technology, became close through reading and talking about books. Now spread across the country, many are still good friends, and at least two eventually married!
Technology seems to consume ever more of our children’s time and eyeballs but also offers new avenues to bring young people together. One hot medium is the podcast, a way of bringing stories and ideas to youngsters that pairs especially well with books. Approximately half of all children, ages 3 to 12, listen to podcasts weekly, and parents credit them for stimulating further reading.
One of the best regarded (by the New York Times, School Library Journal, Today, The (London) Times, and The Guardian, among others) is a history/civics podcast that has inspired elementary-age kids for nearly a decade. The Past and the Curious uses humor and original music to tell stories from history, especially the accomplishments of women and people of color, often overlooked in schools.
Its creator, Mick Sullivan, curator of visitor experience at Frazier Museum in Louisville, Kentucky (a Smithsonian affiliate) and a multi-instrument musician who has fronted a slew of Louisville-area bands, is a master interdisciplinary storyteller. Fresh from his latest success at WBUR’s “Mega Awesome Super Huge Wicked Fun Podcast Playdate” in Boston, Mick is bringing this live, multimedia version of the podcast to Maze Library on Saturday, April 5 at 11 a.m.
Why Maze? Mick is one of those millennials who visited Maze on trips to visit his dear old aunt in Oak Park, and he always wanted to do something special in this very special space.
The show at Maze is free and all ages are invited, especially kids 5-12 and their families. As the New York Times quipped in one of its several reviews, “Come for the delightful punny title and stay for the accessible but never dumbed-down history lessons,” with “zippy storytelling” that is “delightful and humorous.”
Elise Sullivan Wachspress is a former Oak Park resident, proud aunt and Maze Branch Library stalwart.