By Kate Benz

Published: Sunday, May 22, 2011

Bookworms and technosexuals joined together in a rare moment of unity on Friday at the South Side branch of the Carnegie Library, where more than 200 of us managed to co-exist peacefully during Late Night @ the Library, regardless of our preference for paper or plastic.

Paperbacks, Kindle, let's call the whole thing off. We're just glad that CLP has come up with an absolutely fabulous way to christen the deconstruction of another one of its branches, which will be undergoing a facelift in the next few weeks and from what we hear, will soon be unveiling some big changes to the cozy space built in 1909. Although, admittedly, one of the first things on our mind was whether or not the gauntlet was going to come down once any unpaid library fees were brought to light, and it turned out we weren't the only ones.

"He was like, 'I don't know if I can go,'" laughed Sam Badger of Chris Linsell, who apparently wasn't the only one hiding a stash of overdue books.

"Oh! Under my bed!" joked Sean Gray.

CLP prexy Dr. Barbara Mistick graciously waved even the worst offenders through, while the likes of Tori Mistick, Joan Hilson, Tacy Byham, ?• and even a cardboard cutout of founding father Andrew Carnegie himself made the rounds, where cocktails were flowing, the music was pumping, and even the librarians were letting their hair down.

"Librarians are so much more than what people think they are," mused Leigh Anne Vrabel. "We're bloggers, we're geeks, we're even techno experts!"

A few laps to check out the scene and it quickly became very apparent that the bidding over a marvelously wacky offering of silent auction items, including survival supplies from when the Library was a bomb shelter in the early 1960s, desks, vintage television armoires, chalk boards, chairs, and bookcases was getting ruthless. Not only were people guarding their bids, they were circulating like vultures in order to stake their claim.

We're already counting down the days until we can christen the grand re-opening.

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