Spring-long programs to highlight Chicago baseball culture
By Igor Studenkov | for the Bugle
The Miles-Maine District Public Library kicked off its new “Sox vs Cubs: Chicago Civil War” exhibit with a baseball pitch, hot dogs, Crackerjacks and a large check.
The exhibit tracks the history of the two Chicago baseball teams, the way they were covered in the media and their fans. The exhibit had a “soft opening” in mid-February, but it was officially launched during the March 2 opening celebration. As Sasha Vasilic, the library’s Public Relations and Marketing Supervisor, explained to the Bugle, the library wanted to display something that would bring people together. And whether one roots for Cubs or Sox, he said, it was one of the few interests that most people throughout Chicago area share.
For the last three years, Niles-Maine Library has been hosting exhibits inside the Franklin Hall – the second-floor newspapers and magazines area – during the spring. In 2016, it was an exhibit about the history of Chicago candy makers. In 2017, it was an exhibit about the history of pizza. The exhibits are scheduled in spring because the library doesn’t usually have any other major programs running and, unlike in winter, the weather isn’t usually cold enough to keep patrons away.
As with the candy exhibit, the Sox vs. Cubs exhibit was created by the Elmhurst History Museum.
“They really provide such quality exhibits and memorabilia pieces,” Vasilic said.
The exhibit included detailed display boards, artifacts such as baseball bats and a tablet-based trivia game. The display boards included a map showing which parts of Chicago and its suburbs tend to favor which team and a detailed timeline of both teams’ histories, complete with the changing names of their stadiums, the major players, historic uniform and logo designs, ownership changes and other major milestones.
This time around, the exhibit was sponsored by Lincolnwood branch of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). The branch was previously part of Chicago-based Private Bank, which the Toronto-based CIBC acquired in 2017.
As it has been the case with other exhibits, the library is running Chicago baseball-themed events geared at different age groups. Most notably, Southpaw, the White Sox mascot, visits the library on March 18 and Clark, the Chicago Cubs mascot, visits on May 6. Vasilic said the library would be doing virtual reality demonstrations once a month.
“The exhibit] is going to give us another angle,” he said. “You can pretend to be in the field, like a baseball player.”
Vasilic said that the library installed the exhibit around mid-February. It held a grand opening on March 2 for library staff and officials, as well as officials from the Village of Niles, Niles Park District and East Maine School District 63. It held a more public kick-off on March 4.
During the March 2 opening, guests could get hot dogs and treats courtesy of Richie V’s Hotdogs and Beef food truck and take pictures using the library green screen photo equipment.
The opening ceremony began with Brian Gawin, CIBC marketing director, presenting a $3,000 donation to Nimes-Maine Library Executive Director Susan Lempke.
“We thank you for letting us be a part of it, to allow us to support this fantastic exhibit, this great library,” he said. This partnership is an example of how we want to work and partner with the community. We are very excited to be partners [with Niles-Maine Library].”
On her part, Lempke thanked Gawin and his employer for the donation and thanked the “fantastic” library staff for doing their part to bring and assemble the exhibit. Reflecting on her history with baseball, she said that Indianapolis area, where she grew up, didn’t have much of a baseball culture. But she learned to appreciate baseball while visiting her grandfather in Jackson, Michigan and listening to Detroit Tigers games on the radio with him. Many patrons, Lempke said, probably feel the same way about their favorite teams.
Lempke finished by saying that she felt that this exhibit, like no other, reflects the library’s mission.
“We preserve the past, but we also focus on the future,” she said. “The teams and their fans exist both in the past and the future.”
Karen Dimond, the current president of the Niles-Maine Library Board of Trustees, remembered growing up in rural Illinois and watching Cubs games on WGN. And, “every once in a while, “ she and her family drove to Chicago for a day to watch Cubs games at Wrigley Field.
“It really drew me to the city, it really made me [feel like] a place I wanted to go back to,” she said. “I hope this exhibit will also draw people to the Niles library. I think the exhibit and programs are going to draw more residents to the Niles-Maine library, and they’re going to see all the other things and resources we have to offer.”
Niles Mayor Andrew Przybylo praised the library for bringing the exhibit to the village.
“It makes it so much easier to build community,” he said.
After that, the officials gathered to cut the ribbon to officially open the exhibit. And, in keeping with the exhibit theme, Lempke and Przybylo threw baseballs.
The officials who attended the opening said they enjoyed the exhibit. Niles Park District commissioner Chris Zalinski said that he knew how much work it takes to put something like that together.
“They put a lot of effort forward the effort to bring the community together,” he said. “I can’t wait to show [the exhibit] to my mom.”
For more information about the exhibit and related programs, visit: https://www.nileslibrary.org/baseball