April is Citizen Science Month, and the Library invites the community to take part in hands-on projects that contribute to 2.5 Million Acts of Science, a national America250 initiative celebrating civic participation and discovery. Citizen science empowers everyday people to support real scientific research by observing and sharing information about the world around them.

Featured projects include Stream Selfie, which helps document the health of local streams through shared photos; Globe at Night, an international effort to measure and raise awareness of light pollution; and iNaturalist, a global platform for recording plants and wildlife to help scientists monitor biodiversity. Information on how to participate in all three citizen-science projects is available at the Library. All projects are free and open to the public and are suitable for adults and families alike.

The Friends of the DeKalb Public Library invite you to the Spring Book Sale! Visit the library’s lower level for an astonishing selection of great quality hardcovers and paperbacks at bargain prices. You’ll find children’s and teen books, graphic novels, fiction, history, science, art, film, cookbooks, gardening, biographies, mysteries, science fiction, and more. There’s a wide selection of jigsaw puzzles, DVDs, audiobooks, and music CD’s. Come back on Sunday for the $5.00 brown bag blowout sale.

All proceeds are used for library books, materials, and programs.

Donations of gently used books, puzzles, DVDs, and CDs are accepted year-round at the circulation desk; please, no textbooks, magazines, LPs, or videotapes.

The sale opens each day when the library does and ends at 4:30 p.m., half an hour before the library closes.

For additional information, contact the Friends at (815) 756-9568, ext. 1030 or email friends@dkpl.org.

An exhibition of twenty-four original paintings created by the Plein Air Painters of Rockford depicts Rockford iconic scenes and surprises. Artworks include views of Klehm, Sinnissippi Gardens, Midway Village, Indian Hill Manor and many more. The exhibit is located in the Visitor Center at Klehm Arboretum.

Lowden Gallery Artist: Ellen "Ellie" R. Bartels
March 1 - April 30

​Ellie has a BA degree in Education and a BFA in Studio Art , both from the University of Washington. She taught art, K – 12, in Orangeville, Il for 12 years. She currently lives in Freeport, Il.

Ellie states, “ The process of transforming paint and canvas into an appealing and effective image scares, frustrates, excites and inspires me.

My work starts out with a subject or theme in mind, usually based on my personal response to nature or a past experience, and a general plan on how to accomplish my goal. As it progresses spontaneity and intuition take over and my unconscious becomes the director.
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I have found that both oils and acrylics work well as vehicles for translating my inner vision to outer reality. Both comply with my enjoyment of layering paint and working the canvas by scraping, rubbing, scratching through, dry brushing, etc., to create depth and texture and to bring the surface to life.

It is my wish that the viewer will want to spend time with my work, to contemplate its meaning, discover its complexities, or to just enjoy the colors and shapes.

The Black & White PLUS Photography Show is a juried exhibition celebrating the strength and versatility of monochrome photography. This show invites photographers to explore imagery created without full color (including traditional black-and-white, sepia-toned and cyanotype), focusing instead on composition, contrast, light, shadow, texture, and visual storytelling.

The gallery is open Wednesday-Saturday 10-4 or by appointment.

Wolf started photographing using an old Agfa in his early teens. He acquired one of the iconic range finder cameras, a Canon 7s, in the late 1960s, moved on to SLRs and twin-lens reflex cameras, established a dark room and processed his own color slides.

Along with his wife, Linnea, an artist who has worked in the visual arts for over 40 years, he has participated in many week-long photo shoots throughout the United States.

During 2018, 2019 and 2020, Wolf & Linnea spent a January week each year at Bosque del Apache in New Mexico photographing sandhill cranes, snow geese and other migrating birds. In 2019 they spent two weeks photographing birds and wildlife in Costa Rica and made trips to northeast Florida in 2019 and 2021 to shoot wading birds during their roosting period.