Wear your best cape and cowl (or that really cool bow tie and fez) and join us for a celebration of reading and fandom culture! Our annual Beaches Library Comic Fest returns Saturday, May 4, from 1 – 4 p.m. (Free Comic Book Day). This FAN-tastic event is sponsored by Friends of the Beaches Branch Library and features some of your favorite local cosplayers, gamers, and comic creators from the Beaches community and beyond.
The Friends of the Beaches Branch Library invite you to stock up on your favorite authors and discover new ones at their spring book sale on April 16-20, 2024. The sale will include gently used adult fiction and nonfiction titles, books for children and young adults, DVDs, CDs and more! Proceeds from sales and memberships are used to enhance programs and services at the Beaches Branch Library.
Mayor Deegan’s River City Readers is a citywide literacy challenge for students of all ages that will run through 2024. Challenge participants are asked to read 20 minutes a day and to log their reading in Beanstack, a popular reading challenge app. The challenge launched on Saturday, January 27, 2024, with a Kick-Off Event at the Main Library.
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! This month, adults (18+) can join us from 7 - 8:30 p.m. in the Lounge at 303 North for a special Jax Poetry Fest Open Mic Night sponsored by Hope at Hand, Inc., with emcee Taryn "LoveReigns" Wharwood. UNF Professor Andrew Kozlowski also returns for a zine poetry-making workshop during Zinester Meetup.
Great Decisions is a program created by the Foreign Policy Association. It is America's largest discussion program on world affairs. Each meeting begins with a 20-minute video on a discussion topic followed by a facilitator-led discussion on global issues.
Attend whichever meetings interest you! Topics for the Great Decisions 2024 series include US-China Trade Rivalry, Climate Technology and Competition, Mideast Realignment, Pandemic Preparedness, Understanding Indonesia, NATO's Future, and more.
April is National Poetry Month and we've got some great recommendations for you, including some books of poetry by local poets like Jessica Q. Stark! Whether you enjoy reading poetry or writing it yourself, we also have several programs and drop-in activities happening around the library system including a poetry program double-header (Lit Chat and Writer's Lab) at Willow Branch Library on Saturday, April 13!
Do you have poetry you'd like to share with the world? Do you want to hear from local poets who write creatively about life in Jacksonville? Drop by the Main Library on Wednesday, April 3, during Art Walk for a special Open Mic Night with Taryn "LoveReigns" Wharwood and Hope at Hand, Inc. They'll be set up in the Lounge at 303 North (just inside the entrance on Laura Street). There will also be a poetry zine-making workshop in the Zine Zone (on the First Floor), if you'd like to see your work in print. Then, on April 13, we’ll have a poetry program doubleheader at Willow Branch Library!
If you haven't joined the Jax Stacks Reading Challenge yet... there's still plenty of time! In April, we're focusing on two of the sixteen challenge categories: "A book of poetry, essays or short stories" and "A book read by a Library Book Club in 2024." How perfect is that?! Not only can you find great recommendations for celebrating National Poetry Month, but if you're already a member of a Library Book Club you've likely already fulfilled at least one challenge category! That means you just have 11 more to go!
Learn how poets use vivid imagery, sensory details, and cultural references to transport readers to specific locations. In this interactive workshop, you'll delve into the profound connection between poetry and locale through a series of engaging activities and discussions. Participants will generate their own work, and discover how landscapes, cities, and personal surroundings can serve as powerful catalysts for creative expression.
