Public Arts Commission Partners With High 5 Heights, Library On 6th Little Free Library

PALOS HEIGHTS, IL — Fresh off their triumphant unveiling last month – “Acoustic Dreams” by sculptor Dale Rogers in Memorial Park – the Palos Heights Public Arts Commission will dedicate the city’s sixth Little Free Library, Tuesday, Sept. 16.

The ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. in Walsh-Westgate Park, Ridgeland Avenue and Shadow Creek Drive. The public arts commission led a special collaboration of several Palos Heights departments and organizations to install the latest functional art piece in the city.

Kerry McNicholas, vocational coordinator and students from CHSD 218’s social enterprise, High 5 Heights, designed and painted the library. The Palos Heights Public Library funded the purchase and the rec center installed it.

The St. Paul, MN-based, non-profit Little Free Library project endeavors to build community, inspire readers and expand book access through a global network of volunteer-led book-exchange boxes. The organization’s vision is to place a Little Free Library in every community and book for every reader.

“The Little Free Library book-exchange boxes are made from a polyurethane material so it will last longer,” public arts commission member Darlene Grigus told Patch. “We tend to buy from companies that are good at constructing outdoor installations.”

High 5 Heights, 12213 South Harlem Ave., a social enterprise run by young adults with disabilities from CHSD 218’s Adult Transition Program, decorated and painted the book-exchange box at Walsh-Westgate Park.

The public arts commission also wants to stock the boxes with books by local authors. Officer Lindsey Vanderlaan, of the Palos Heights Police Department, published a children’s book from a story she wrote down when she was 14 years old. Vanderlaan will present a signed copy of “The Little Man In The Clock” to be placed in the Little Free Library, along with the High 5 students and Mayor Bob Straz.

“I wrote it down without any intention of it ever becoming a children's book, but later on I had a purpose to turn it into a children’s book that others will find joy and value from,” Vanderlaan said, who claims to be an author by accident. “It sat in the corner of my bedroom for years, and now nearly a decade later, it’s a fully-illustrated children’s book.”

A Little Free Library is a free book-sharing box where anyone may take a book or share a book. They function on the honor system. You do not need to share a book in order to take one. If you take a book or two from a little library, try to bring some to share to that same library, or another in your area, when you can. Little Free Library book exchange boxes in Palos Heights can be found at:

• Walsh-Westgate Park – Ridgeland Ave & Shadow Creek Drive
• Near the Clubhouse at Lake Katherine Nature Center
• 2 libraries at the Recreation Center – 127th Ave & Patriot Blvd.
• Navajo Hills Neighborhood – E. Navajo Drive & Menominee Pkwy.
• Art Garden – 123rd St. & 72nd Ct.