Former President Barack Obama surprised Burke Elementary students at the Bessie Coleman branch of the Chicago Public Library by arriving in a Santa hat to read Flying Free: How Bessie Coleman’s Dreams Took Flight. He posted video of the visit on X and used the moment to preview a planned library branch at the Obama Presidential Center, now expected to open next June after years of delays. The $850 million Jackson Park campus will include a presidential library, museum, auditorium, gardens and athletic facilities on a 20-acre site.
Obama Surprises Chicago Students in Santa Hat, Reads Story at Bessie Coleman Library — Previews New Obama Center Branch
Former President Barack Obama surprised Chicago students with a Santa hat story time as he promoted programming planned for the long-delayed Obama Presidential Center opening next June.
Former President Barack Obama surprised a class of Burke Elementary students on Tuesday when he walked into the Bessie Coleman branch of the Chicago Public Library wearing a Santa hat and sat down for an impromptu holiday story time.
As the lesson on leadership was underway, Obama greeted the children, asking, "How you guys doing?" After brief introductions, he read the picture book Flying Free: How Bessie Coleman’s Dreams Took Flight, which tells the story of Bessie Coleman, the trailblazing aviator for whom the branch is named.
Community-Focused Preview of the Obama Presidential Center
Obama shared video of the surprise visit on X, writing, "I had fun reading to some Burke Elementary students at the Chicago Public Library today." He used the occasion to preview a planned Chicago Public Library branch that will be part of the forthcoming Obama Presidential Center, saying the center is expected to open next June.
Former President Barack Obama read to students at a Chicago library while wearing a festive holiday hat.
“We’re going to open in June so that y’all don’t have to bring your coats up,”
Obama made that remark during a recent appearance at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, though he did not announce a firm opening date.
Background: Delays, Lawsuits and What’s Planned
The Obama Presidential Center site on Chicago’s South Side was announced in May 2015. The multiuse, 20-acre campus — a project estimated at roughly $850 million — is designed to include a presidential library, museum, auditorium, a Chicago Public Library branch, gardens, athletic facilities and public gathering spaces.
Originally projected to open in 2021, the center’s timeline was pushed back by federal environmental and historic-preservation reviews and legal challenges. A 2018 lawsuit filed by a group called Protect Our Parks alleged that Chicago illegally transferred parkland to the private Obama Foundation; a revised version of that suit was dismissed by a federal judge in 2022. Federal reviews tied to road changes and Jackson Park’s status on the National Register of Historic Places concluded in late 2020.
Former President Barack Obama joked with the students as he read to them.
A formal groundbreaking did not occur until 2021, and construction activity has accelerated in the past year. The Obama Foundation and backers say the center will serve as a "lively community hub, economic anchor and beacon of democracy" for the South Side.
Obama’s surprise holiday reading offered a small, community-focused glimpse of the kind of programming organizers expect the new library branch and larger campus to provide for local families and visitors.
Reporting note: Local outlets covering the visit included FOX 32 Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times; the former president posted footage of the reading to X.
