!Welcome
At the St. Joseph Township- Swearingen Memorial Library, you will find big city library services provided with a small town friendliness.
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The library has a weekly email newsletter! If you would like to sign up for our newsletter, go to the "Wowbrary" link on the left and follow the instructions.
The newsletters come out every Saturday. It announces new materials added during the week as well as upcoming events happening at the library.
Now it's easy to manage multiple accounts, keep track of checkouts and due dates, and renew items from your mobile device using the SHARE Mobile Library, the St. Joseph Township-Swearingen Memorial Library's new app! Search for books, DVDs, video games, audiobooks, e-books, and more. Find it now in the Apple App store or Google Play Store.
#SHAREMobileLibrary
Brought to you by the St. Joseph Township-Swearingen Memorial Library and the SHARE library consortium, a division of Illinois Heartland Library System.
Michelle is the creator/writer/star of the Netflix series Survival of the Thickest, inspired by her autobiographical book of essays of the same name. She is also the host of two popular reality competition shows - The Circle and Barbecue Showdown, and hosts the popular podcast, Adulting. In 2024, she starred in Babes alongside fellow comedian/actress Ilana Glazer.
Born in New Jersey to Caribbean parents, Michelle brings her unique perspective and big personality to stage and screen. Her one-hour comedy special, Welcome to Buteaupia, won the Critics Choice Award for Best Comedy Special. Her new special, A Buteau-ful Mind, drops on Netflix December 31.
Greta Johnsen is an interviewer, podcast host, and book person. She is loved as co-host of HBO's Official Game of Thrones Podcast and hosted WBEZ's Nerdette podcast for eleven years. She can also be heard on podcasts like Pop Culture Happy Hour and City Cast.
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llinois Libraries Present James McBride, an award-winning author, musician, and screenwriter. His landmark memoir, The Color of Water, was published in 1996 and is considered an American classic, read in schools and universities across the United States. His 2013 novel, The Good Lord Bird, won the National Book Award for Fiction and was adapted by Ethan Hawke and Jason Blum into a Showtime series bearing the same name. His latest, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, was named one of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2023.
In 2016, President Obama awarded McBride the National Humanities Medal "for humanizing the complexities of discussing race in America. Through writings about his own uniquely American story, and his works of fiction informed by our shared history, his moving stories of love display the character of the American family." In 2024 he became the latest recipient of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. A native New Yorker, McBride is a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University.
Heather Marie-Montlilla of PBS Books will join McBride in conversation.
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These events were made possible by Illinois Libraries Present, a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events. ILP is funded in part by a grant awarded by the Illinois State Library, a department of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).
ILP is committed to inclusion and accessibility. To request accommodations, please email illinoislibrariespresent@gmail.com.The library joined the Illinois Libraries Present (ILP), a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events. ILP is funded in part by a grant awarded by the Illinois State Library, a department of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). ILP is committed to inclusion and accessibility. To request accommodations, please email illinoislibrariespresent@gmail.com. The library is excited to be a part of ILP.