Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Chicago Public Library attracts millennials with beer
Special events and parties that pair libations and books catching on
CHICAGO — A hum of conversation convened recently at Revolution Brewery around wooden tables clustered with empty beer cups.
Clad in flannel and pendant necklaces, the diverse crowd of young people wasn’t present solely for hops — more to learn which hibiscus ale paired best with George Saunders.
The event, on a warm summer evening backdropped by an American flag and beer barrels, was hosted by the Junior Board of the Chicago Public Library Foundation, a group targeted at millennials.
Its members, 50 young professionals in Chicago, are convinced that city libraries are vital — and vibrant. And they think other 20- and 30-somethings should agree.
Junior Board member Nikki Kidd, 34, learned about the group at a happy hour devoted to “The Warmth of Other Suns,” the library’s One Book, One Chicago pick in 2014.
An Uptown resident who owns her own public relations business, she was told the Junior Board was for people invested in free and open access to knowledge — and for planning fun events surrounding arts, culture and social topics.
“This sounds just like me,” she thought.
The board’s hosting resume includes everything from a “Get Carded” campaign (not the by-the-bouncer kind, the plastic-library type) to an annual Night in the Stacks (www.cplfoundation.org).
Upcoming events include a trivia night in August.
The festivities do not look like other fundraisers. The crowd is young — and dancing.
“It’s not a silent auction,” Kidd said. “We run out of alcohol sometimes.”
The Junior Board’s role also helps identity folks who might serve as the next generation of library support, said Veronica Brown, the Library Foundation’s director of individual giving.
Even if the millennial generation might be screen-obsessed, she noted, many remember their first library card.
“I think everyone has a fond memory, nostalgic memory,” she said.
The Board, which formed in 2012, boasts all kinds of professions — lawyers, accountants, entrepreneurs, a personal shopper. All members are between ages 21 and 40. The group considers new members twice a year, and some, like Kidd, first get involved through the Junior Board Society, which isn’t limited to 50 people and recruits people in their 20s and 30s to participate in and promote events.
Along with increasing library-coolness awareness, they also raise money, both individually (annual dues are $250) and through events such as Books+Beer.
Kidd likes to surprise people with a list of library offerings: fishing poles, wireless hot spots, lending robots. She points out that no other institution acts as a community center all over the city.
“The library touches everyone,” she said.
At the Revolution Books+Beer event, bartenders poured flights of beers to pair with highlighted books.
“Very Harry Potter like,” said Rachel Yeomans while introducing a beer — Coup D’Etat Saison ale — to pair with Haruki Murakami’s “A Wild Sheep Chase.”
“All of his novels have a really strong moral compass,” she said.
Yeomans is creator and host of Lit With a Twist (“Literature and libations. Paired.”) Many times, it was unclear whether attendees were discussing beer or books.
“It flows very smoothly,” Yeoman said — but was this about Diane Setterfield’s “The Thirteenth Tale” or Ideology Extra Special Bitter?
Later, she announced a special guest: Jason Muhr, sipping beer at the head of a table.
“The author is here drinking amongst us,” Yeoman said to applause.
Muhr, of Warrenville, Illinois, is an artist and co-creator for the dinosaur-dominant comic series “Voracious,” about a former chef who travels to a prehistoric period. He says he was entertained by the pairing — A Little Crazy Belgian American Pale Ale.
“I liked the surprise,” he said.