“Public libraries of today should be community
centers,” says Carole Medal ’72 of Arlington Heights, Ill.
Medal believes libraries need to diversify their programming and
events in order to better serve their district. Her position as
the executive director of Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin,
Ill., gives her the chance to ensure that this idea becomes a
reality.
Medal oversees general operations of this
third largest public library in the state of Illinois. She spends
a great deal of time supervising and developing the majority of
the organization’s programming and activities. Recently, she
helped bring to the library the dinosaur exhibit: “GIANTS:
African Dinosaurs, created by Project Exploration.”
Busy throughout the fall months, Medal
coordinated a themed agenda in order to create “more interesting
and dramatic programming,” she explains.
The exhibit includes a variety of
dinosaur-related tours and galleries that are enjoyable for all
ages. The exhibit of bones and models is open and free to the
public during regular library hours through Dec. 30.
The skeletons of “GIANTS: African
Dinosaurs” were prearranged by the nonprofit organization
Project Exploration, founded by paleontologist Paul Sereno.
Gail Borden Library has six completed, model
skeletons on display. “The models are created from Dr.
Sereno’s digs in Africa. They are casts of the actual bones,”
Medal says, “The real bones went back to the original
country.” The library also includes a separate “Touch
Gallery” of fossils.
Of the six dinosaur skeletons featured at the
library, the main attraction of “GIANTS” is Jaboria, an
African plant-eater that is 33 feet tall and 60 feet long.
Thanks to the architectural design of the
library, Jaboria fits snugly inside the library’s central
rotunda, allowing the rearing model to take center stage of the
140,000-square-foot facility.
According to Medal, the efforts of the Gail Borden
Foundation in garnering financial assistance was key to making
“GIANTS” a workable event.
From local businesses to corporate groups, it was the gifts
and personal donations that made the event possible, she says.
“We are more than just a collection of
books,” Medal contends. Her goal of making the public library a
centerpiece of the Elgin area is quickly coming together. By
“utilizing the facility to the nth degree,” as Medal says, the
library will become a community leader.
While raising funds for “GIANTS” with the
Gail Borden Foundation, Medal further drew upon the notion of
interacting with the community. The result was the library’s
“Dinos on Parade” event, which would help financially support
the expensive model exhibit. With Medal’s idea, the library
acquired small, dinosaur-shaped sculptures with a durable
fiberglass skin for local artists to paint.
Similar to Chicago’s 1999 “Cows on
Parade,” Medal says that the “Dinos on Parade” fundraiser
contributed to Gail Borden’s dinosaur theme, involved the
community and raised money for the library. The sculptures were on
display throughout the City of Elgin and South Elgin from late
July to early November.
“I was just kind of thinking out loud,”
Medal admits, “but it was very well received.”
For “Dinos on Parade,” the library
purchased several four-by-eight foot dinosaur-shaped sculptures.
The library then sold the sculptures to sponsors for $2,500 each,
and the sponsors sought resident artists to paint them. Sponsors
included local businesses, Rotary clubs, local colleges and the
City of Elgin.
The turnout for artists thrived, and for a few
months Elgin citizens found playfully designed dinosaurs exhibited
around the city. “This is a very rich community for artists,”
Medal assures.
The money acquired through the “Dinos on
Parade” fundraiser went to co-finance the “GIANTS: African
Dinosaurs” exhibit, as well as to assist the Gail Borden
Foundation in planning and developing future community events.
More
than 50 hospitals, banks, stores and others also are sponsoring
the library’s exhibit. The group participation, Medal notes,
“is a very important component” in engaging citizens with one
another. “People are absolutely thrilled ... they didn’t just
see the exhibit, they were a part of it.”
