Jacksonville Public Library Blog

National Library Week (April 23 - 29, 2023) is a time to celebrate our nation's libraries, library workers' contributions and promote library use and support. The theme for National Library Week 2023 is "There's More to the Story," illustrating the fact that in addition to the books in library collections, available in a variety of formats, libraries offer so much more.

Earth Day is a celebration! The natural beauty and resources we all enjoy here on the First Coast are something to behold. When was the last time you visited the riverfront, our amazing beaches or the Jacksonville Arboretum & Botanical Gardens? Earth Day is also a reminder and a call to action. So many plants and animals call the Earth home! Every generation must do its part to protect it. Even the youngest kids can get in on the fun! For ideas and tools, check out these books about kids who are doing small (and big) things that make difference every day!

Jessica Q. Stark is the author of Buffalo Girl (BOA Editions, forthcoming April 2023), Savage Pageant (Birds, LLC, 2020) and four poetry chapbooks, including INNANET (The Offending Adam, 2021). Savage Pageant was named one of the “Best Books of 2020” in The Boston Globe and in Hyperallergic. Her poetry has most recently appeared or is forthcoming in Best American Poetry, Poetry Society of America, Pleiades, The Southeast Review, Carolina Quarterly, The Boiler, Tupelo Quarterly, Glass Poetry Journal, among others. She is a Poetry Editor at AGNI and is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of North Florida.

Malamander by Thomas Taylor is an atmospheric mystery set in the seaside town of Eerie-on-Sea. This salty tale features a quirky cast of characters who quickly become entangled in the lore of a legendary sea monster and its wish-granting egg. As the resident Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, Herbie Lemon is in charge of reuniting lost items with their owners.