The Rock Island Public Library has been celebrating 150 years of community service over the past year with special events, enhanced services, a new branch and local history programs. Now that the Year of the Library is ending, the library is ready to start their next chapter.

To wrap up this special year, the Rock Island Public Library and the Rock Island Public Library Foundation will hold a celebration on Saturday, November 4 at the library’s newest location, the Watts-Midtown Branch, 2715 30^th Street.

The after-hours evening at the library runs from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. Admission is $50 per person and includes hearty hors d’oeuvres from QC Pancake House, complimentary beer, wine and soft drinks and entertainment by Andrzej Kozlowski of The Sound Conservatory. 

Guests can bid on one-of-a-kind, artist created bookends to give their home bookshelves a stylish touch. Regional artists participating in the limited-edition bookends include Gloria Burlingame, Jane Koski, Sherry Mauer, Randy Richmond, Bill Hannon, Sheila Wigant-McGee, Corrine Smith, Lisa Mahar, Genevra Bell and Mark Schwiebert are among the regional artists who have created bookends for the auction. A mystery beer and wine pull will help raise funds while stocking home bars for the holidays.

Guests can pay for event admission online or at the door with cash, check, or credit card. For more information, please call Kathy Lelonek, Foundation Director, at (309) 752-3014 or email RIPLFoundation@gmail.com. 

The Rock Island Public Library Foundation raises funds for the library’s new Watts-Midtown Branch, supports Hug-A-Book and Rocket into Reading literacy programming and coordinates the Library PALS (People Advocating for Library Services) volunteer program and book sales.

For more information about Rock Island Public Library events and services, click here or call (309) 732-READ (7323). For more information on the Rock Island Public Library Foundation, click here.