Jodi Block was the creator and owner of Children in Paradise Bookstore, the largest children’s-only bookstore in the Chicago area, for 13 years. Block sits on the boards of Personal PAC, ASM (After School Matters), the Chicago Children's Museum and the Chicago Public Library Foundation, and she is on the executive board of the Open Studio Project, a nonprofit arts and social service organization in Evanston, Ill. She was appointed to the Chicago Public Library Board of Directors in June 2013.