Meet the 2025 Library Foundation Board – Celebrating 10 Years of Support

August 28, 2025

Dear Helen Plum Library Foundation Supporter,

If you’re reading this, it’s likely because you’ve made a contribution to the Helen Plum Library Foundation or expressed interest in staying connected to our work. Thank you for being part of a community that believes in the power of libraries to educate, inspire, and connect.

We’re excited to introduce you to the Foundation’s Board of Directors for 2025 — a dedicated team of volunteers elected at our most recent annual meeting in October 2024. You can find a full list of board members, along with their roles, on our website: https://www.helenplumlibraryfoundation.org/board

This year is a special one for us. 2025 marks the Foundation’s 10-year anniversary, and we’re celebrating a decade of community support with our most active year yet. 

Here's a quick look at what we've been up to:

 Helen Plum Portrait Restoration

The Foundation helped fund the restoration of the historic Helen Plum portrait, in partnership with the library and the Conservation Center in Chicago. The portrait unveiling ceremony was  August 4th and it sits outside the Plum rooms on the library’s first floor. An article and videos that describe the restoration process can be found here: https://www.theconservationcenter.com/articles/2025/5/27/preserving-a-pastel-from-helen-plum-library 

First-Ever Farmers Market Booth

This summer, Foundation board members joined Library board members at the Lombard Farmers Market. Together, we shared updates about upcoming fundraising campaigns and sold gently-used books — 100% of proceeds support future library programming. Look for our table the last Tuesday of every month, weather permitting, through the end of September.

Dining for a Cause

We launched our first "Library Fundraising Days" with three amazing local restaurants:

• Brick’s Pizza

• Rainbow Cone Ice Cream Parlor

• El Famous Burrito

A portion of the day’s sales from each partner is donated directly to the Foundation. If you missed the opportunity to participate, there’s more to come: planning for a fall fundraising event at Alter Brewing in Oak Brook on September 9th has just been confirmed. Catch the Bears-Vikings NFL season opener and support the library at the same time - $1 for every beverage sold will go to the foundation!

Specialty Book Sale

Hosted by Helen Plum Library, August 23rd and Sunday, August 24th, this book sale of gently used, limited-edition, coffee-table-quality books from a private collection was full of rare finds on an eclectic range of topics, including architecture, cooking, design, history, sailing and more.

Community Connections at Local Events

More than ever before, volunteers have been proudly representing the Foundation at community celebrations, including the Lilac Parade in the spring and Jinglebell Jubilee last winter. Plans for upcoming holiday events are also in the works, offering fun ways to get involved and support the Library’s future. We have another slate of community events and fundraising activities planned for the fall. We hope you’ll check back for updates and opportunities to join us as volunteers. 

Given the uptick in foundation community activity, we’re always looking for volunteers to help us get the word out about current and upcoming ways to support the library. If that’s something that interests you, we encourage you to contact us at info@thehplf.org . 

Grow A Reader Program Update

In 2024, a foundation contribution helped the library launch the Grow a Reader program in August of last year. Since launching, through March of this year, 170 readers have read over 22,500 books and completed almost 2,000 learning activities!

Grow a Reader helps families of children from birth through age 5 to foster early literacy skills by reading books and completing learning activities. Anyone with a Helen Plum Library card can sign up their “seedling” (ages 0-2) or bookworm (ages 3-5) to participate! To learn more: https://buff.ly/vfmx77F 

We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished in partnership with the library, the community and local businesses - we’re even more excited about what’s ahead. Thank you for being part of our story — whether as a donor, volunteer, advocate, or all of the above.

The Helen Plum Library Foundation Board of Directors