The Oak Park Public Library is set to reopen Tuesday after being closed Monday “out of an abundance of caution” following a threat, officials told Pioneer Press.
According to village of Oak Park spokesman Dan Yopchick, library officials made a decision to close all three village library branches Monday after getting an ominous online message.
The message, “There will be a big explosion all over Cook county’s highways and librarys including Chicago gurnee and oak park. It will explode sometime tomorrow 8/21/2023,” was received by the library over the weekend, Yopchick stated in an email to Pioneer Press Monday.
Yopchick said at approximately 7 p.m. Sunday, library staff called the village police department’s non-emergency number to report a comment that was received via the library’s online contact page.
“Out of an abundance of caution, library buildings were closed Monday,” he said in the email. “After a full search of library spaces finding no evidence to support this threat, library buildings plan to open for regular hours on Tuesday.”
He explained that library officials were allowed to make the decision on whether to open or close Monday, understanding the police could be called if further assistance was needed.
According to Yopchick, library Director Josyln Bowling Dixon called the police department and requested assistance for a walk through library branches with police.
“At this time, all branches have been investigated with negative results and OPPD has deemed the threat to be not credible at this time,” he stated in the email, noting that his comments were only on behalf of the village and police department.
However, library officials also publicly acknowledged the situation and confirmed plans to reopen.
“We are grateful to everyone for their understanding, support, and patience,” Dixon stated on the library website, “including the Oak Park Police Department for working with us this morning to ensure the buildings are indeed safe to return to tomorrow.
“Please know your library continues to put people and safety first, and we look forward to opening our doors and welcoming everyone back into all three buildings tomorrow.”
Yopchick said the Oak Park police noted that several libraries across the northern suburbs received similar threats on Aug. 17 and that no explosives were ever found or detonated.
[ Bomb threats made to north suburban, Lake County public libraries ]
