Schaumburg library exhibit 'Before I Die' reflects on life's priorities
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The interactive "Before I Die" exhibit -- inspired by artist Candy Chang's original in New Orleans -- will be displayed at all three Schaumburg Township District Library locations during August. Courtesy of Schaumburg Township District Library
It could be considered a "bucket list" board.
Throughout August, Schaumburg Township District Library sites in Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates and Hanover Park are hosting the interactive art project "Before I Die."
The exhibit asks its observers to contemplate their mortality and consider what's most important to them in their lives as they complete the sentence, "Before I die I want to ..."
The project both encourages visitors to identify priorities and offers a window to the conclusions of others.
The concept is the brainchild of artist Candy Chang, who first featured the exhibit in her New Orleans neighborhood.
Since then, the "Before I Die ..." project has been shared in more than 5,000 municipalities in 78 countries using 35 languages.
While August is a time to consider the present and future at the three Schaumburg Township Library branches, next month will bring an opportunity to look back.
Beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, there will be an opening event for the 25-year-old time capsule sealed in 1998 upon completion of the new central library at 130 S. Roselle Road in Schaumburg.
The time capsule includes CD-ROM databases, photographs and newspaper clippings -- all sealed in a container with the air replaced by inert gases in the interest of preservation.
The capsule also contains letters to the future from 1998 library board President Deborah Miller and the library's founding executive director Michael Madden, who was still serving at the time.
Among other topics, those letters will provide a reminder of where the library's evolving role in the community was at during the end of the 20th century.
