To celebrate CAPL’s 75th anniversary this year, we asked patrons who participated in our Winter Reading challenge to share a special story or ways in which CAPL has affected their lives. Here are their responses!
Emma (grade 5)
The library is one of my favorite places to go. I like the calming environment. I am a huge bookworm so I love reading books so I just really like the library.
Alice (grade 2)
I learned to read because of your books and storytime. I love the Lego Clubs, seek in finds, book clubs, game nights, Andertoons, movie nights, library lovers and winter/summer reading. I also love all the Librarians. I love CAPL!
Nora (grade 3)
CAPL has helped me grow, learn and have fun. Happy 75th anniversary!
Lourie J. Stage (adult)
In early 2011, Nancy Gaynor started offering programs on genealogy. I was so excited to see the intro program as I had recently been going over the binders of family history left to me by my mom. That program kicked off and inspired me to want to learn more about my family and equally important – how to learn more!
Nancy (and the Cary library) continued to offer programs which instructed and inspired me to turn my very “part-time” hobby into becoming part of the board of the McHenry County Illinois Genealogy Society. My time building my family tree has rewarded me with some pretty good stories about my family.
But, an unexpected gain has been my new friends! (Many of whom are also Cary Library card holders.)
Thank you to the Cary Area Library and especially to Nancy Gaynor!! You are all great.
Charlotte Hebert (adult)
CAPL gave me a place to study for my continued education and professional development. Events also inspired me to get creative and submit artist entries over the years. I still cherish and display the work at home. My family has also benefited from the sense of community. My husband now regularly attends the writer’s group. After years of writing they provide the best perspective, camaraderie, and honest feedback. Our son also regularly checks out books and is insistent we prioritize every book fair on our calendar. This place has inspired his love of books. We even found a historic photo of our home here that we now display. Thank you for everything.
KB Atkins (adult)
Since joining the CAPL, our favorite thing has been Maker Monday, a free/no registration required, arts and craft time block on Mondays. It has become a tradition since my son started at the school next door. Every Monday after school, we spend an hour and a half either doing a guided craft or free choice project with various supplies from the craft cart. The librarian (I am sorry I do not know her name!) is ALWAYS so excited for us and our art and is just another light to our Mondays. Top three things at CAPL according to my son: Self-check out scanless scanner / the return belt scanner / take home art pages and kits. So far we are loving the CAPL and can’t wait for more memories.
Kimberly Koboz (adult)
We moved to Cary in 1992 and one of the first new places I sought out was the library. It was located on Stonegate Road and I immediately fell in love with its historical charm.
Although the library has gone through changes over the years, it has always provided a refuge with its variety of programs, friendly faces, and constant supply of books through its shared system.
Thank you Cary library and staff (both present and gone) for being the one pleasurable constant during my Cary years.
Lynn Stolar (adult)
More than in a single special story, CAPL has affected my life by its continual involvement in it. From reading programs that motivated my family to read hundreds of books, to book sales that expanded our bookshelves to capacity, to in-person cooking programs that introduced us to new skills and foods, to creating crafts that challenged and delighted us, and to technology presentations that made us tech savvy. There were so many more programs and contests besides these!
CAPL allowed me to fill a display case in the lobby for a month with my Swedish collection letting so many people enjoy seeing it. We were introduced to new music and movies by way of a myriad CD’s and DVD’s. Most importantly, CAPL made the library a fun place for our kids to visit throughout their lives. They are now both avid readers. They fondly remember the little house at the bottom of the stairs at the silo library where they played after selecting their books. We enjoyed seeing the Peeps competitions, the Lego displays, the tiny White House on display and admiring the creativity of local student artists who had their work hung throughout the library (my daughter was one of the artists!). The array of items one can check out such as metal detectors, musical instruments, Go-Pros, sewing machines, and movie equipment is amazing.
CAPL librarians are the best – answering so many of our questions and assisting in so many ways. We haven’t stumped them yet!
Thank you CAPL for all of this!
Pam Losey (adult)
The Cary Area Library has always held a special place in my family’s lives, starting when my husband and I first moved here in 1981! Back then the library was in the old Hertz Estate building and you entered thru the barn silo (how unique was that!). After our children were born I would take them to storytime downstairs in the library. They loved listening to the librarians read stories. They would browse thru the card catalog looking for interesting titles to books they wanted to read. What fun adventures we had picking out books every week to read at home! Their love of reading started right there and has never ended and now they do the very same thing with their children! The old trophy room (where John D. Hertz and Otto Schnering of Curtiss Farms trophies were displayed) was a unique room with marble fireplace and lime oak fumed walls and windows where you could sit in comfy chairs and listen to records or simply read a book! I live closer to Decker library now and enjoy picking out lots of great books and attending many events! Full circle I became an author and my book is in the Cary Area Library! Images of America Cary and Fox River Grove is the book.
Congrats to 75 years!
Tristin (adult)
I started coming to the library when I became a nanny. The kids I nanny love to read and it sparked my love of reading. I was never a big reader growing up. I struggled with it and finding books I enjoyed seemed impossible. Over the years I’ve asked various staff members for recommendations and I’ve always loved the books. All of the staff are so kind and helpful. Anytime I’m not able to find a book they come and help look! Having a library has given me much more confidence and ease when it comes to reading. No pressure to love the book when it’s rented. Reading is no longer an activity I can’t understand why people enjoy. Reading has brought me to new worlds and places I never dreamed about. I love being a part of the library’s community!
Claudia Conroy (adult)
I have lived in the Cary Area for 50 years and have always had a library card, even when I wasn’t living within the library district. The first library location I remember was at the corner of Route 14 and West Main Street. I loved the creaky floors there. I helped pack books when the library moved to the silo near the Park District building.
When I returned to school, the Cary Library staff were instrumental in getting copies of journal articles I needed. They were even able to get a copy of a dissertation from a Chicago University to cite for an article I was writing.
I love visiting the Cary Library. I usually spend Friday afternoons there researching my family tree. It is very helpful that the Cary Library is a FamilySearch affiliate library which allows me to access online records at the Cary Library that are not available to view at home.
Avery (teen)
I think Natalie is a great librarian here for many reasons. One reason is because she is great to look to for information. Another reason is because she listens when you talk and gets interested about your interests. Finally, she I think is a great role model for kids to look up too for help and support. In conclusion Natalie is my absolute favorite librarian here.
Savannah (grade 1)
We get to rent new games, play with friends, make crafts + hang out in a well cleaned, safe and comfortable environment.
Sodie (age 2)
Great place to meet up with friends, make crafts, find new books + learn! We love the Humpty Dumpty felt story and any time we drive by the library we talk about it. It’s so nice to have such happy memories made when we’re 2!
Max (age 9)
I learned to make my favorite dinner from checking out a book called The Spool at the Cary Library.
Lana (age 6)
I love the computers and cook books and books and the scavenger hunts.
Parker (age 6)
I love comig (sic) to the Library becus (sic) I love your scavenger hunts and cool books.
Aryia (age 10)
I love going to the library because it is very close to our house, it’s a quiet and calming place and I love going to the library with my family and I love to read books, it’s one of my favorite things to do.
Renin (grade 4)
I have always loved the Library. It has been a part of my life since I was a toddler. It is like a second home to me. I’m ten now, and the Library has not changed a bit to me. The programs are always fun, including; (graphic novel club, Lego club, and game night). (Those are just some of my favorites.) and I make new friends because of them. One of my favorite events they have multiple times a year are: the reading programs, those are always exciting! One time they even had a scary writing contest! It was fun participating and reading all the creative works! The Library has never faulted in being amazing. My family and I are the most frequent visitors, (we come every other day,) whether it’s on wheels or by foot, and I never get bored. They have all the Harry Potter books, and even more by J.K. Rowling. The staff are always helpful and kind, and I can always count on them to help me find a book. The Library is a part of my life, and I hope it always will be, so, thank you, Cary Library.
Chloe O. Rojales (adult)
CAPL is my first library job. I am forever grateful to be a part of such a brilliant & unique team. I’ve learned so much from everybody and will carry it all forever. It truly has been such an honor to work with such kind, understanding, and warm people and to call them my colleagues. I am so proud to be a part of this community and wouldn’t have it any other way. Thank you to everyone for making CAPL the wonderful place it is.
Salvador Islas (adult)
I would always count on Mrs. Wagus to procure the material I requested just like Julie & Sue, true librarian’s!! Thank you!
Christy Wagner (adult)
After moving to Cary in 1986 I’m quite sure we registered for our Cary Library Cards very shortly afterwards. Little did I know that soon I would become a library employee. At the time I believe Cary Library probably held the unique distinction for “the most unique Library entrance” as you entered the building through a large cement silo which had been a part of the Hertz farm/estate before being converted to the Cary Village Hall and library.
The Children’s Librarian at the time, Jan Springborn, inspired me to consider a part time position in the Children’s department. Both of our children had participated in the library’s story times and I had re-discovered my fascination with libraries.
I had left my position as a medical social worker and took the job on a lark to “try something new”. Soon I was learning the “behind the scenes” work of children’s programming, reading library journals and assisting with story times. I could not have had a better mentor in the library field than Jan. She held “her patrons”—the children of Cary—as her highest priority, making certain her story times were engaging and stimulating. She vigorously weeded the collection and brought it up to date with current titles and taught me the value of a Children’s collection. Her joy was evident as she interacted with children, students and parents with a genuine concern to link them with just exactly the book they would enjoy and or needed for an assignment. Her enthusiasm and the respect I saw in her work with families was an inspiration and I decided to take my role in library work one step further.
In 1995 I took a position at Ela Area Public Library in Lake Zurich which was a perfect blend of my previous career in social services and my recent years in library work at Cary… I became the Outreach Coordinator at Ela library bringing books to those in nursing and retirement centers. It was a position I thrived in as it brought me joy to link “my patrons” with just the perfect read in large type or on audio as I visited my Outreach sites throughout the community. Twenty-six years later I retired from my position at Ela.
Today, I am again a proud patron of Cary Area Public Library. I find the staff always cheerful, eager to help me locate an obscure title and patient if I require some computer assistance! I enjoy the book discussions—now I don’t have to do all of the preparation! The programming is diverse and opportunities to continue to be a lifelong learner abound!
I consider the Cary Area Public Library one of the very best benefits of living in Cary!