Bloomington Public Library is now home to a time capsule which was put behind glass Friday afternoon. It will be opened in 2050.
The time capsule holds several items significant to the past decade and to Bloomington-Normal.
Another time capsule was discovered at Bloomington Public Library during a renovation period and was the inspiration behind starting a second one. The first time capsule was made in 1977 when the library was first built, according to library director Jeanne Hamilton.
“We thought that was a really fun experience to open and see what they thought was important then,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton said the 1977 time capsule was found buried inside a wall in 2022 when the $25 million expansion and renovation began. Hamilton credited Illinois State University archivist April Anderson-Zorn for helping to advise them on how to examine the 1977 time capsule.
“One of my favorite things in the [1977] time capsule was a letter from the [library director] at the time,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton said all items in the 1977 time capsule were donated to the McLean County Museum of History. Anybody can view them.
Hamilton said many of the items included in the 2025 time capsule had to do with the recent renovation and expansion of the library. Such items included a Lego replica of the library and several 3D-printed items.
A roll of pennies was also included in the 2025 time capsule. Hamilton said this was due to the rumor that pennies will no longer be made in the near future. Other items included a toy car from Rivian, a Cowboy Corny bobblehead toy from the Normal CornBelters, and a toy Abe from the Bloomington Bison.
“One of the things that we ran into this time around was a lot of things we thought were interesting were actually digital, so I wonder if it will be hard to decide what to put in a physical time capsule. We didn’t really want to put a USB in there because we thought maybe even USBs wouldn’t have a way to play in 25 years,” Hamilton said.
As part of a celebration of the 2025 time capsule, children were encouraged to bring in materials to make their own time capsules. The children used shoeboxes and other similar containers to make their time capsules.
Bloomington-Normal resident Jaleesa Owens attended the celebration with her children. She said she found one item in the 2025 time capsule particularly interesting.
“The roll of pennies. It just blows my mind [that] in 25 years pennies won’t be a thing anymore,” Owens said.
Owens said she would have wanted Polaroids, which have become popular again, to be included in the 2025 time capsule.
The children paraded upstairs following Hamilton as she placed the time capsule in its spot in the quiet room on the library’s second floor.
“It was a really amazing time because we’re in the library and you can’t often speak louder than a whisper, so the fact that they gave us the greenlight to have a little bit of fun was my favorite part,” Owens said.
Owens said she’d like to see more items important to the local community to be included in the next time capsule should the library decide to create one in 2050.
“Maybe just more community activism,” Owens said.
The 2025 time capsule can be viewed in a glass case in the quiet room on the second floor of Bloomington Public Library.
