We Invite You To Our Last 'Community Conversation' Of 2025

But there is a chance that Library Board Trustees put the newsletter in a position, where we have to cancel the event

Anyone who moves to Elmwood Park will notice that this is a village that prides itself on taking care of its elderly residents.

Join us for our final “Community Conversation” of the year as the Elmwood Park Advocate expresses gratitude for the senior citizens, who have attended and helped make our conversations a success.

We’ll enjoy some bakery treats and beverages and invite those who have called Elmwood Park their home for decades—or just moved here for retirement—to share their experiences and wisdom.

The event will take place at 3 p.m. on November 15, 2025, in the Ferrentino Room of the Elmwood Park Public Library. (RSVP)

For five months, the Elmwood Park Advocate has held events in the main meeting room of the Elmwood Park Public Library. However, we must mention that the “Community Conversation” planned for November 15 is only temporarily approved by Library Director Michael Consiglio. (The library director initially denied the request.)

The library director insists on charging community groups, volunteer organizations, and residents to use meeting room spaces if they do not have a 501c3 nonprofit organization recognized by the IRS. The fee is $100. But we do not think that any group, organization, or resident needs recognition from the IRS to use a library meeting room space.

On November 10, editor Kevin Gosztola will present an appeal at a Library Board policy committee meeting at 4 p.m. in the Ferrentino Room of the library. The policy committee will make a recommendation to the full Library Board, which will then hold a vote at a Library Board meeting at 5 p.m.

If Library Board trustees support what we strongly believe is viewpoint-based discrimination, then we will have to cancel the event. We do not have $100, but also, on principle, the Advocate will not pay to use the meeting room when we have held five “Community Conversations” in the space without paying a fee. (Remember, this entire chain of events stems from 7-8 unknown people trying to veto our speech and assembly.)

For now, mark your calendars. We hope that Library Board trustees will allow us to hold one more event to close out the year.

*Note: The Elmwood Park Public Library has permitted resident-led groups to use meeting spaces as a community service. The Library neither sponsors nor endorses this event, the speaker(s) or the organization.