35 Year of Minutes, 35 Years of Women
What do 35 years of meeting minutes reveal about Friends of the Edgewater Library?
While Friends of the Edgewater Library was formally incorporated on May 6, 1990, a small group of community residents was active years before then. Here’s what stood out for one current Friends member after reading 35 years of Friends of the Edgewater Library’s meeting minutes. (See the photo galleries at the end for the women of the past and present.)
Sociologist Jessica Calarco famously opined that “other countries have social safety nets. The United States has women.” Never has that been so clear as in this story to support the Chicago Public Library in Edgewater. Women saw a need and filled it. Women saw a new building was needed and argued for it. Women saw community support was required and organized it. And, women saw how the library’s services could be improved with a larger building and advocated for it.
In 1989 the Edgewater Branch of the Chicago Public Library needed help. The library faced personnel shortages, declining circulation, and inadequate security. In stepped Francine Reizen, an Edgewater resident who, in tandem with the Branch Librarian Laura Gonzalez, sought help from the Edgewater Community Council’s Education Committee. They suggested that community members start a Friends group for the library. Soon local community organizer Betty Barclay and others held meetings, drafted bylaws, and organized a book sale to raise funds for the library. The rest, as the cliché goes, is herstory.
Betty Barclay | Image courtesy of The Edgewater Historical Society.
Since it was incorporated in 1990, Friends of the Edgewater Library has been led by women for almost all of its 35 years. Women have served in many roles but held the title of president for most of the group’s history with Betty Barclay serving from 1990 to 2010. This leadership was reflected in the programming organized by the Friends group.
Initially, Friends focused on children’s programming as the library had no children’s librarian. Other early programs included a series called “Let’s Talk About” on the latchkey children of this era. In their first full year, the Friends group partnered with Loyola University to create and support an after-school tutoring program at the library. Another partnership with Mundelein College supported a homework helpers program. This support for children and teen programming continues throughout the Friends 35-year history, becoming a large part of their support for the library.
While women leaders were supporting the community, they were also organizing programming that showcased the talents and skills of women from so many different fields. For example, women painters held a class to teach folks of all ages how to paint. Author and poet, the late Gwendolyn Brooks, who was named Poet Laureate of the United States in 1985, gave a children’s program in 1996. Women storytellers such as the late Elyne Handler and Linda Gorham shared their work.
In other programs, portrayals of Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott brought these famous female authors to life for the community. Other presentations on Women of the Irish Revolution, Florence Nightingale, and women in the military during World War II have all been hosted by Friends of the Edgewater Library. In 2021 alone, women detectives and investigators were explored with three programs: the Female PI in Fiction, author/attorney Jill Wine-Banks and Watergate, and a celebration of 90 years of Nancy Drew. You can view some of these programs on our See Us Video Gallery
Library advocates
The late Alderperson Mary Ann Smith. Photo courtesy of the Edgewater Environmental Coalition.
The early women leaders of the Friends brought their work and advocacy well beyond the Far North Side. In fact, they went right to the centers of power. As they filled in the gaps in need, they sought the support of the city to increase its budgets for libraries and librarians citywide. They helped gather more than 1,000 signatures on a petition to ask that Mayor Richard M. Daley increase library hours and staff in 1991. His refusal did not stop the Friends, who that same year worked a “telephone tree” to 48th Ward Alderperson Mary Ann Smith to encourage more backing for the library.
Again, in the early 2000s, the group sought change — this time with a focus on a new library. Betty Barclay worked with Alderperson Smith to start the process as early as 2007. The Friends organized an appraisal of the potential space for the library, and a proposal for the new library was drawn up and brought to the City Council for support in 2009. When the new library opened in 2013, the Friends group started up again with new women at the helm, ready to continue to assist the library and community as they always had.
While women have been the backbone of the Friends, this does not diminish the work of the men who encouraged the founding of Friends of the Edgewater Library and who are active members of the group today. In this review of the meeting minutes, I wanted to showcase how women often are the first ones who see the need, take up the cause, work behind the scenes, are on the front lines to engage neighbors, and are committed to supporting the library to benefit the entire community.
— By Meghan Leonard
Friends Member & Program Committee Co-Chair
Photo Gallery | 35 Years of Women Leading The Charge for The Edgewater Branch Library
Then | Women from The Edgewater Library’s Past
(L to R) Branch Manager, Laura Gonzales with Terry Hogan; Library Staff with Betty Barclay (r); Laura Gonzales; Terry Hogan
Now | Today’s Women
Some of today’s women leading Friends of the Edgewater Library and The Edgewater Branch Library, and performing at the Edgewater Library and Friends’ events. Betty Barclay’s daughters, Ann (l) and Jane (r), are pictured in the second photo in the first row. Branch Manager, Joanna Hazelden, is pictured with Michele Allen in row four, first photo. Blog author, Meghan Leonard, is in the first row, third image. Ginger Williams, one of our “almost since the beginning” members, is the second photo in row two.
