!Welcome
At the St. Joseph Township- Swearingen Memorial Library, you will find big city library services provided with a small town friendliness.
5th Annual Library Crawl is coming!
Click here for a Google Map of all Library Crawl participants!
Click here for a directory of crawl particpants' local eateries!
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.
This month we’re featuring new movies and series just added to biblio+ including the crime scene dark comedy series The Cleaner and the mystery thriller Doctor Foster, our Editor’s Pick for August, from the BBC, as well as the Australian satire comedy Swinging Safari starring Guy Pearce and Kylie Minogue. New to our Lifelong Learning category this month is Florence and the Uffizi Gallery, a thrilling, multi-dimensional tour of Tuscany's most famous city and the world-renowned gallery that holds some of the most prolific works from the Renaissance. New selections from the BBC this month include the cozy detective series Quirke starring Gabriel Byrne, Michael Gambon, and Geraldine Sommerville, the crime thriller The Intruders starring Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown, and the comedy series This Time with Alan Partridge starring Steve Coogan. We’re also featuring a thrilling selection of True Crime series and documentaries, including Jack the Ripper: The Case Reopened from the BBC, Heartland Homicide, and Dear Zachary: A Letter To a Son About His Father.
Experience summer concerts from the comfort of your living room with two exciting live performance films starring global pop stars Ariana Grande and Sam Smith in the BBC’s Live in London series.
And don’t miss the kids series Yakka Dee! from the BBC.
Explore some of our August featured titles available on biblio+:*
- Doctor Foster - Editor's Pick (BBC)
- The Cleaner (BBC)
- Swingin Safari
- Florence and the Uffizi Gallery
- Quirke (New from BBC)
- The Intruders (New from BBC)
- This Time With Alan Partridge (New from BBC)
- Jack The Ripper: The Case Reopened (BBC)
- Heartland Homicide
- Dear Zachary: A Letter To a Son About His Father
- Ariana Grande: Live in London
- Sam Smith: Live in London
- Yakka Dee!
*availability subject to territory
To get to Biblioplus, go to www.biblioplus.com
The library is excited to offer Biblio+, a free video streaming service for all St. Joseph Township-Swearingen Memorial Library card holders in good standing. You will need your library card number and pin number to register. Please stop by the library to pick up the flyer!
Click here to Register
Stephen Graham Jones joins us to talk scary stories, horror and more with horror expert Becky Spratford. Jones is the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians and Don’t Fear the Reaper, and a prolific author of more than 25 books spanning genres. He received an NEA Fellowship and won several awards including: the Ray Bradbury Award from the Los Angeles Times, the Bram Stoker Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the Jesse Jones Award for Best Work of Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters, the Independent Publishers Award for Multicultural Fiction, and the Alex Award from American Library Association. He is the Ivena Baldwin Professor of English at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Illinois librarian and Readers' Advisor Becky Spratford will join Stephen in conversation. She trains library staff all over the world on how to match books with readers through the local public library and runs the critically acclaimed blog RA for All. A devout horror fan, she writes a horror review column for Library Journal, is the author of The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Horror, and is a proud member of the Horror Writers Association.
Click here to Register
Join Newberry and Caldecott honoree and New York Times bestselling Grace Lin for an engaging conversation about her journey to become an award-winning author and illustrator. Learn about her latest middle grade book, Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods, a beautifully written full-color book that explores the whimsical myths and stories behind your favorite American Chinese food, and learn how you can draw your own stories. Evanston Public Library Children’s Librarian Brian E. Wilson joins Grace in conversation.
Before she was a bestselling author and illustrator of picture books, early readers and middle grade novels, Grace was the only Asian girl going to her elementary school in Upstate NY. That experience, good and bad, has influenced her books—including her Newbery Honor Where The Mountain Meets the Moon, her Geisel Honor Ling & Ting, her National Book Finalist When the Sea Turned to Silver and her Caldecott Honor A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Grace advocates for diversity through her TEDx talk - “The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf” - and a PBSNewHour video essay, “What to do when you realize classic books from your childhood are racist?” She continued this mission with her podcasts kidlitwomen. In 2016, Grace’s art was displayed at the White House and Grace, herself, was recognized by President Obama as a Champion of Change for Asian American and Pacific Islander Art and Storytelling.
November 8 - Netflix’s Bake Squad star and owner of the Chicago-based bakery Justice of the Pies Maya-Camille Broussard shows us how to bake with love
Click here to Register
December 6 - Psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author Lori Gottlieb helps us survive the holidays
Click here to Register
December Date To-Be-Determined: a stream of The Nutcracker, danced by The Royal Ballet, with music played by the orchestra of the Royal Opera House.
January 11 - Sci-fi author, journalist, and activist Cory Doctorow and Hugo and Nebula award-winning author Ken Liu, AND New York Times bestselling author Martha Wells join us to speculate about our AI Future
February 6 - Meet American cartoonist and children's book author/illustrator Jerry Craft to learn how to draw your own comics
February 20 - #1 New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn helps us feel the romance all month with a discussion about Bridgerton and all things romance
April 3 - Prominent speaker and professor Dr. Temple Grandin shares on the gifts of neurodiversity
May 7 - Kal Penn discusses his many lives: writer, producer, former White House staff member, starring actor of "Harold and Kumar" and much more!
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.