Jacksonville Public Library Blog

Wear your best cape and cowl (or that really cool bow tie and fez) and join us for an all-ages, fandom-filled celebration of reading and pop culture! Beaches Library Comic Fest returns in 2025 for its 10th annual celebration on Saturday, May 3, from 1 – 4 p.m This FAN-tastic event is sponsored by Friends of the Beaches Branch Library and organized by your favorite librarians. It features some local cosplayers, gamers, and comic creators from the Beaches community and beyond.

April is National Poetry Month and we've got some great recommendations to get you inspired to write your own verses, including some poetry collections by locals like Jessica Q. Stark and Michelle Lizet Flores. Later this month, local author Lena Shaqareq joins us for a Junior Lit Chat Author Talk for children, ages 5-12. She'll be giving away copies of her rhyming children's book, How the Sun Got Its Light. Plus, we've got a special History Chat that explores the life and poetry of Matthew R. Ward and Jacksonville's role in the Great Migration.

From a wild and wacky journey through the world of poetry with playful monsters and aliens to an inspirational, rhyming children's book about fireflies working together to bring light to the sun: local author Lena Shaqareq's Stanza Extravaganza and How the Sun Got its Light are two great ways to share the joy of poetry with your children. Meet the author from 1 to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, at Pablo Creek Regional Library. Note: A limited number of copies of How the Sun Got It's Light will be given away to school-age children in attendance.

In 1916, the Chicago Defender published an unknown local tailor's poem, "Bound for the Promised Land." This scathing indictment of the Jim Crow South spread like wildfire and became a rallying cry for Black southerners who risked it all to seek greater opportunity in the north. Learn more about the man and the poem that sparked a movement at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, at the Main Library.