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Laura Florian’s traveling library brings books and creative activities to kids all over Evanston every summer.
On Tuesdays, she sets up shop from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. outside the Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center. On Wednesdays, you can find her again from 11:30 to 1:30 in Mason Park. She wraps up her circuit from 3 to 5 p.m. at Elks Park on Thursdays, then returns to do it all again the next week.
Florian, the Evanston Public Library’s youth engagement librarian, runs EPL On the Fly! three days a week for eight weeks of the summer, usually from early June through early August. She brings creative projects and cartons of books to locations across the city to engage youth in free, stimulating activities.
“I can have 25 kids in the space,” Florian said. “Sometimes I’ve had an intern, but not for a long time. Mostly it’s just me by myself.”
The program began more than a decade ago, originally under the name “Maker Kids in the Park,” and it evolved into its current version after the pandemic. Florian, as the program leader, chooses locations, times and activities carefully.
“I go to where the free lunches are,” Florian said, referring to the city’s summer free cold breakfast and lunch service for youth. “I bring books to give away and do the same craft or same activity at each park each week. It takes a lot of preparation.”
This week, the craft of choice was do-it-yourself kaleidoscopes. Curious participants colored and decorated paper circles to their liking, then Florian assisted them in assembling a prism-powered instrument with their own design at the forefront.
Despite the chaos of water guns and playground antics around her, Florian’s table was an oasis of focused creation and thoughtful conversation.
Florian designs different crafts and activities for every week, bringing art and STEM work into heavily-trafficked neighborhood parks. Credit: Alexis Rogers
At Fleetwood-Jourdain, the Summer Discovery camp run by the city aligns with EPL On the Fly!, drawing lots of interested participants to Florian’s booth every Tuesday. She’s been running the program long enough to build a bond with kids across the community who visit her table or participate in school programs that she runs during the academic year.
“There’s a lot of continuity,” she said. “Some of the kids know me because I see them at their schools during the school year. There’s a lot of kids that I’ve watched grow up.”
EPL On the Fly! continues through Wednesday, Aug. 6. The last Tuesday workshop is Aug. 5, and the last Thursday event is the week before that on July 31.
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