Resa Mai MLIS PhD
Director 

rmai@morrislibrary.com

815.942.6880

A Message From Your Director

July 2024 – As we look forward to next year we have fun and exciting programs at the library.  Ray Grossi is finishing the mural on our north wall (facing Chapin St).  It represents the youth of our community sharing their knowledge and enriching their minds.  Across the top of our mural is our mission statement.  Our mission is to provide materials, programming, and space to cultivate curiosity, enlighten the mind, and strengthen the community.  With these as our mission we strive to have something for everyone.  From innovative programs such as bus trips, baseball games, science experiments and book clubs; we offer programs as diverse as the Morris community.

We have had so much fun partnering with the City of Morris on our monthly Movies in the Park.  Watching Wizard of Oz with a hundred of my neighbors was magical.

In addition to our programs we also offer books, movies, cake pans, a drone, puzzles and tools to check out. This year we added new databases like Kanopy and Hoopla where you can watch movies on your computer or phone.  And we have started growing herbs in our garden that you are welcome to come and pick for your dinner table.

The Morris Area Public Library is a creative outlet and we are working to meet the needs of the entire community. Which is why we are meeting monthly and working to break ground on our new addition.  We will have a 3000sf addition where the Northern Insurance building now stands. This new area will be a space created and dedicated to the community.  We will host programs there and you can reserve the space for your meetings as well.

With so many new things to explore in the library I hope to see you here soon.

Resa Mai


Staff Members

Cari Shelton, Head of Patron Services

Karen Barowsky, Marketing Specialist

Megan Murray, Head of Children’s Department

Pam Burton, Head of Programming

Tammy Baldine, Head of Technical Services

Tanya Berndt, Business Manager

Thomas Sargent, IT Specialist