#Library U Wrapped & Ready for 2024
We're closing out the year with some very cool programs and a ton of great book clubs! Get caught up in a good book with "Tangled Webb," a brand new Book Club meeting at Webb Wesconnett Regional Library. If you're interested in local history and memoirs, don't miss the Lit Chat Interview with Nat Glover. At seventeen, he unknowingly headed into an angry white mob and the Ku Klux Klan attacking young black protestors staging a sit-in at a downtown whites-only lunch counter. Known as “Ax Handle Saturday,” this harrowing encounter with racism would commit him to a lifetime of fighting for justice.
December is also the last month to check off 12 books and win a cool prize for the 2023 Jax Stacks Reading Challenge. A new challenge (and new categories) start January 1, 2024! Be sure to follow us on Instagram for the fun advent calendar-style Jax Stacks category reveals starting mid-December.
Be the first to know about upcoming Lit Chat author events, Writer's Lab workshops, and more!
History Chat: Red Hill Cemetery Project
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 are documenting the site, digitizing death certificates, collecting oral histories, and scanning additional documents (photographs, funeral home records, etc). Join us on Tuesday, December 5 at 7 p.m. at Highlands Regional Library where UNF professors David Sheffler, Felicia Bevel, and Michael Boyles will speak about the project and its importance to local history.
Lit Chat Interview with Nat Glover
Former Jacksonville Sheriff Nat Glover joins us to talk about his memoir, Striving for Justice: A Black Sheriff in the Deep South, on Saturday, December 9 from 2-3 p.m., live at the Bradham and Brooks Library. The interview will also be live-streamed via Zoom. He will be in conversation with Keitha Nelson, an award-winning journalist with 19 years of experience in the field of broadcasting and co-anchor for Good Morning Jacksonville, First Coast News, NBC12/ABC25.
Writer's Lab Workshop: Self-Publishing on Kindle Vella & Amazon KDP
If you come out of November with a ready-to-publish manuscript (or just want to plan your next steps), join us at the Writer's Lab in December for a hands-on how-to session with Mike Messier. He will instruct you, step-by-step, on how to write and publish fiction and nonfiction on Kindle Vella & Amazon KDP. If you bring your finished manuscript, you could even leave with a published book! Join us on Saturday, December 2 from 12- 2 p.m. at Mandarin Branch Library!
Life Lit Workshops:
Learn everything you need for a successful, all-season yard from Master Gardeners and our friends at the UF Extension Office! Or, measure your entrepreneurial mindset and learn the basics of being an entrepreneur with our partners at EY.
- Falling Into Winter: Monday, November 27 @ 6 p.m., at Argyle Library
- Wintering Wildlife: Tuesday, December 5 @ 6 p.m., at Maxville Library
- Entrepreneurship Basics: Tuesday, December 5 @ 6:30 p.m., at University Park Library
- Gardening for Pollinators & Birds: Monday, December 11 @ 6 p.m., at Regency Square Library
- Gardening in Jars - Containers: Tuesday, January 9 @ 6 p.m., Murray Hill Branch
Find Out What Others Are Reading
The holiday season is here! With all the parties and get-togethers, it can be a busy time. Plus, there's all that shopping, cooking and decorating! You should definitely reward yourself for all of that hard work by taking the time to read a good book! If you're looking for ideas about what to read or looking for the perfect gifts for the book lovers in your life, join us at Library Book Club! Book clubs are one of the best ways to discover what other people are reading (and what they think about the books everyone else is reading).
Join a Library Book Club in December!
Adult Reading Challenge
Time's running out to finish the Jax Stacks 2023 Reading Challenge! You've probably already read books this year that meet the challenge categories. Join Jax Stacks today and claim your prize! You can pick up a bookmark at any Jacksonville Public Library. Just be sure to complete it by December 31, 2023!
Need book recommendations? Join us on Saturday, December 9 @ 2 p.m. at West Branch Library. We'll be discussing: “A book under 300 pages.”
Join the Challenge! Register for the Book Club!
