The Evanston Public Library Director Answers Your Questions

We asked readers to submit their questions for Evanston Public Library director Karen Danczak Lyons, and we've got answers to your questions and more in our Q&A.

With plans to bring the Mighty Twig back under the wing of the Evanston Public Library and a transition to separate from city governance, there’s a lot going on at the library. Patch sat down with director Karen Danczak Lyons, who came onboard with the Evanston Public Library last April. Previously, she served as budget director for the city of Chicago in the early 1990s, and then worked at the Chicago Public Library from 1993 until she took the position in Evanston. We asked our own questions as well as questions submitted by readers in advance. Why did you decide to take the job with the Evanston Public Library? It’s always fun to build and create something. We’re transitioning right now so that we will no longer be a city department. We…

• Photos (1)

What Do You Want to Ask the Evanston Public Library Director?

Submit your questions to Patch and we'll do our best to ask them of Evanston Public Library Director Karen Danczak Lyons when we sit down for a conversation later this week.

What Do You Want to Ask the Evanston Public Library Director?

Submit your questions to Patch and we'll do our best to ask them of Evanston Public Library Director Karen Danczak Lyons.

Much is afoot at the Evanston Public Library, where new director Karen Danczak Lyons took over in March after a long career with the Chicago Public Library. Perhaps most notably, Lyons and her staff are making plans to take over operations of The Mighty Twig, the independent library founded by volunteers last March after the city closed the South Branch due to lack of funds. Under a proposal approved by the library board, the new branch would be staffed by Evanston Public Library employees with help from volunteers, and would be supported by fundraising and grants. Lyons and her staff are also studying the feasibility of a new branch location in west Evanston, in line with a strategic plan for the years 2011 through 2014 that sets improved…

•  8 Comments
• Photos (4)

Jennifer Fisher

11:24 am on Friday, November 9, 2012

Thanks to everyone who asked questions! We've got your answers here: http://evanston.patch.com/articles/the-evanston-public-library-director-answers-your-questions   more ›

Evanston Public Library, Mighty Twig May Join Forces

The library board gave new director Karen Danczak Lyons approval to begin formalizing ties with the volunteer-run library formed after the South Branch Library was closed.

Evanston’s volunteer-run library, The Mighty Twig, could soon see funding and staffing from the Evanston Public Library, according to the Evanston Review.  Evanston Public Library board members voted last week to give director Karen Danczak Lyons permission to formalize a relationship with the citizens’ group that runs the Mighty Twig, the Review reports.  Staffed entirely by volunteers, The Mighty Twig was opened in spring 2011 after the city voted to shut down the South Branch Library last year due to lack of funding.  Now, the Evanston Public Library may contribute as much as $103,000 in funds toward The Mighty Twig in the next fiscal year, according to the Review. For the full story, visit the Evanston Review website. 

• Photos (2)

Meet the Evanston Library's New Director

Central Street Neighbors will host a discussion with new library director Karen Danczak Lyons this Wednesday.

Get to know the Evanston Public Library's new director personally this week at a meet and greet this on Wednesday night. Karen Danczak Lyons, who took over as director in April, will talk to residents and answer questions at the North Branch of the Evanston Public Library, 2026 Central Street, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. this Wednesday, June 6. The event is hosted by Central Street Neighbors, a neighborhood group.  Before trustees voted to appoint Lyons in March, she served as first deputy commissioner of the Chicago Public Library system, where she worked from 1993 until her departure. While at the Chicago Public Library, Lyons worked in several departments, including human resources, building operations, labor management, staff developmen, …

• Photos (1)