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Open Books is a nonprofit organization that provides the ability to get to know literature better. The organization mostly works with kids and students and help them with their reading and writing skills and also, promote love for books. Open Books owns two stores, one in Pilsen and one in West Loop. Besides that, the Open Books has an online store where people can purchase books and support the organization. At their stores they have over 50,000 books for sale and 10, 000 of those books are children books. By selling books and organizing different events the organization fundraises money that goes to their programs. Also, the nonprofit donates books to homeless and people who cannot afford to buy them. The organization is run by volunteers, in which duties can range from helping in the store or working with children.

History

Open Books was founded by Stacy Ratner, (the/ who is) now Executive Director of the nonprofit educational and social program (12). Ratner attended Brandeis University and Boston College Law school to attain degrees in literature and law and has received her Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management (12). The Open Books operation (was made a reality/ began) in Ratner’s basement, where she and Becca Keaty, current acting Director of Marketing of Public Relations of Open Books, collected and organized donated books (11). Ratner and Keaty partnered with Erin Walter, acting Literacy Director of Open Books, to open the original bookstore in May of 2006.

Events

Open Books holds hundreds of events every year. They organize Adventure in creative writing field trips where students work with mentors and get a chance to write and publish their work. Open Books holds their events in both their Pilsen and River North locations. In 2014, the organization participated in Chicago’s first Independent Bookstore Day. Their second location in the West Loop contains office spaces to host more events.

Locations

Open Books - Pilsen 905 W 19th St, Chicago IL, 60608 312.243.9776 Wed-Sun: 10am-4pm pilsen@openbooks.org

Open Books’ Pilsen location has a “warehouse style set up” containing a variety of books that are appropriate for families and educators starting at $1. OpenBooks Pilsen hosts special event sales to promote neighborhood events, as well as the legacy project of Pablo Helguera’s Libería Donceles, dedicated to preserving the only collection of Spanish-language books in Chicago. These books are available for purchase at any price that the buyer feels is fair, and these as well as new English-language books are always coming in and out of OpenBooks Pilsen.

Open Books - West Loop 651 W. Lake St Chicago, IL 60661 312.475.1355 x 100 Mon- Sat: 9am-7pm Sun: 12pm-6pm westloop@openbooks.org

Open Books West Loop is a full-service neighborhood used-bookstore. The store has 50,000 books in numerous genres, a section dedicated to kids and young adults containing 10,000 books, comfortable space to read, full event list, and watchlist and ordering services.

EVENTS

Storytime Twice a week (Thursdays and Saturdays from 10am-11am) OpenBook West Loop (651 W. Lake St) hosts a free storytelling period that is open to all ages. The event includes a storytelling, read aloud books, singing, arts and crafts, and special guests.

Reading Buddies Twice a week during the school year, OpenBook staff members and approved volunteers pair up with a 2nd or 3rd-grade student at a school in Chicago to read together for 30 minutes, play games and complete book activities. The goal of the program is for the student to gain confidence in and improve their reading skills, as well as increase their fluency and comprehension. At the end of the year, students to take part in the program can choose from a bag of books to take home

Creative Writing Field Trips

OpenBooks West Loop hosts creative nonfiction writing and performance workshops for 3rd-12th graders, ran by OpenBooks staff and approved volunteer writing coaches. The workshops cost $8 per student, and take place at OpenBooks West Loop location at 651 W. Lake St, Tuesday-Friday from 10 am-12: 30 pm year round. The students do interactive readings and icebreaker activities before going on to write their own prose and poetry and perform their work for their class at OpenBooks West Loop. After the workshop, all students receive printed copies of the classes anthology to keep.

Creative Writing Club

OpenBooks WestLoop hosts this new after-school program on Wednesdays from 4pm-5: 30 pm. The creative writing club includes activators such as writing prompts, playing games, and publication opportunities. It is a free program, ran by OpenBook Staff and approved writing coaches, and is open to 4th-12th graders. No advance registration is required to attend.

Read Then Write

Read Then Write is a reading, writing and publishing program OpenBooks offers for teenage authors. The program is hosted at select schools in Chicago and is open to 5th-12th-grade students. The program is held on weekdays during the school year and ran by OpenBook staff and approved volunteer writing coaches. Cost for the program is $50-$70 per student. Open Book Staff and the writing coaches assist students with writing their own personal memoirs, narratives, and poetry. At the end of the program, each student receives a book from the OpenBooks bookstore, a professionally published copy of the classes works and gets to exhibit their work for family and friends at a ceremony at the OpenBooks WestLoop bookstore.

Publishing Academy

OpenBooks Publishing academy is an intensive writing workshop that allows students to create, write and professionally publish a novel. The program begins with 5-week intensive workshops from July 9- August 9, followed by 9am-12: 30 pm workshops on the second Saturday of each month from Aug. - April. The program is open to 8th-12th-grade students and hosted at OpenBooks WestLoop location (651 W. Lake St). The cost of the program is $550 if the student registers by May; $600 if the student registers in April or May, and $650 in the student registers in June. With the assistance of OpenBooks staff and approved writing coaches students produce full-length novels, consult industry professionals about design and publication and get to meet with other published authors. After the programs, all finished works are exhibited to the public at a Publishing Academy Book Launch.

Book Grants

Every year, OpenBooks donates 135,000 quality books to create libraries in schools and nonprofit centers. This is to promote literacy events in the community and provide students with less access quality books. Book grants for children are book donations for class libraries or at-home use. Book grants given to adults are for use in non-profit settings such as clinics, shelters, or community centers.