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The Sandburg Society
We all have special library memories—fond recollections of the sense of discovery and freedom that accompanied the joy of reading.
The Sandburg Society is a group of special friends of the Chicago Public Library who love reading and ideas and support the freedom of all Chicagoans to read, learn, discover and connect to their world and their community.
Through gifts of $1000 or more to the Chicago Public Library Foundation, members of the Sandburg Society continue to make a measurable difference in the lives of Chicago's families. Learn more about the benefits of these gifts »
Throughout the year, Sandburg Society members are guests for intimate evenings with authors, including Bernard Lewis, Paul Theroux, the NY Times' Frank Rich, and Arthur Golden, writer of the best-selling Memoirs of a Geisha. Sandburg Society members also get behind the scenes tours of the treasures hidden in the Library's Special Collections and priority reserved seating for SRO events with authors such as David McCullough, Annie Leibovitz and Tom Wolfe.
Here are just a few ways your Sandburg Society membership helps create new library memories:
- Research shows that children who participate in Summer Reading Programs maintain, and frequently improve, their reading levels. Last summer, more than 50,000 children read over 1.2 million books.
- Teachers in the Library provide after-school homework assistance to youngsters in many of Chicago's neediest communities. More than a half million children received help with homework and school projects at more than 50 of our 79 branch libraries this past year.
- Chicago Reads Together assists parents and caregivers of pre school-age children in developing early literacy—the building block of life-long learning and achievement.
- Tens of thousands of Chicagoans come together in reading and discussion of contemporary issues through the award-winning One Book, One Chicago initiative. Other innovative partnerships bring financial literacy and health information to adults within their own communities.
Maureen Dwyer Smith and Leslie S. Hindman are co-chairs of the Sandburg Society.
