The Yule Ball for All returns to the Beaches Branch Library! Celebrate the magic of the season with other members of the Harry Potter fandom on Saturday, January 6 from 2-4 p.m. You can dance, make and take several themed crafts, play Quidditch and other games, drink butterbeer, and get a photo in your fancy dress robes (or other Harry Potter cosplay)! Sponsored by the Friends of the Beaches Branch Library.
If you're like most people, you use your phone or mobile device to connect to the world. The Library's website and catalog are completely mobile-responsive, so getting to all the library products and services you love is as easy as tapping on your screen.
Whether you're familiar with the Library's app (currently out of service1), or if you're just learning about how the catalog and website work, here are tips to complete the most common tasks you'll do.
Has your to-be-read list gotten a little thin? Need a few more books to complete the Jax Stacks Reading Challenge? Looking for the perfect gift idea for that bibliophile in your life who's read everything else? Do you like to venture off the bestseller list to discover those rare literary gems that fell through the cracks? We've got some great books for you this month that, for whatever reason, you might have missed in 2023.
It's the holiday season! While it might not be snowing in Florida, there are other signs of Winter approaching... The shorter days, the drop in temperatures... Not to mention the various religious and secular celebrations that happen in December. Little ones can get pretty excited this time of year and have a lot of questions. Plus, with the kids out of school for several weeks... Parents are often looking for ways to entertain and spend quality time with their kids. Fortunately, the Library has a few suggestions for how you can spend those chilly winter days!
Experience rhythm in a whole new way with Just Add Rhythm - appearing Live From the Library in December and January! We'll practice our communication, sharing, and listening skills and get hands-on with different drums, shakers and Boomwhackers. Everyone gets a turn in this interactive, high-energy sonic adventure for children (ages 5-12)! Registration is limited and may fill up fast!
Are you a Hallmark movie fan? Can't wait to get your hands on the next cozy mystery or holiday romance? You're in luck! Not only do we have a large selection of books and audiobooks to with amateur sleuths, meet-cutes and other holiday treats... you can curl up with top-rated shows or movies like Murder She Baked, When Calls the Heart, Chesapeake Shores, and The Way Home without the subscription fees. Keep reading to learn more!
Celebrate our community's deep pool of creative talent with us on the first Wednesday of each month in Downtown Jacksonville! The Main Library stays open until 9 p.m. for the festivities! We are conveniently located directly across from James Weldon Johnson Park, one of Art Walk's two major hubs of activity. Not only that, there is usually local art on display, zinesters meeting and collaborating on the first floor, tabletop gamers doing one-shot adventures, and special drop-in activities going on in the Teen Room.
With the blood supply running critically low, your community needs you more than ever. Donate now and save lives. LifeSouth Community Blood Centers and Jacksonville Public Library are working together to make donating convenient for you. Donors will receive a $20 e-gift card, a special holiday t-shirt, and the satisfaction of saving local lives! LifeSouth is a nonprofit that provides blood for 80% of the local hospital beds in your community, including every Lv.1 and Lv.2 Trauma center!
Have you completed the 2023 Jax Stacks Reading Challenge?! Throughout the year, we've been giving you suggestions for each* category in the challenge via email and blog every month so that you would always have a great library book waiting for you if you needed it. If you've missed any of these recommendations, check our blog archive! If you want a prize, you've got until December 31, 2023, to cross off at least 12 of those categories. In the meantime, free to share your progress and recommendations on social media using #jaxstacks.
The Red Hill Cemetery Project documents an African American Cemetery in Waycross Georgia with more than 1000 burials dating from the late nineteen century. Researchers from UNF and the Okefenokee Heritage Center are documenting the site, digitizing death certificates, collecting oral histories, and scanning additional documents (photographs, funeral home records, etc). The project is multi-disciplinary and includes contributors from Archaeology, History, and Geography. UNF professors David Sheffler, Felicia Bevel, and Michael Boyles will speak about the project and its importance to local history.
