Adult Programs

Released in 2024 by Hal Jacobs, Just Another Bombing?: This is Donal and Iona's Story takes audiences on a poignant journey through a little-known incident of the 1960s Civil Rights era. Iona Godfrey King and her son Donal Godfrey share their deeply moving account of surviving the Klan bombing of their home with three other family members on February 16, 1964, in Jacksonville, Fla. The reason for the bombing? Six-year-old Donal was the first Black student to enroll in the neighborhood Lackawanna Elementary School. Watch and discuss at the Bill Brinton Murray Hill Branch Library this Black History Month.

Novelist Jessica Hatch will show you how to use (and subvert) the genre's most popular tropes, decide between "closed door" or spicier love scenes, get your Nora Ephron on by infusing humor into your romance, and write in a way that is authentically you - while still appealing to the market. Hatch is the author of two contemporary romance novels: My Big Fake Wedding and How to Keep a Husband for 10 Days.

Are you ready to fall in love with the international bestselling Jacksonville Rays hockey romance series? Local author and TikTok sensation, Emily Rath, joins us for a Galentine’s Day chat with local novelist Jessica Hatch live at the Library! They will talk about all things romance, the Jacksonville Rays, and what it's like to be BookTok famous.

Saturday, February 10, at 2:30 p.m., learn about the exciting life of Captain James W. Floyd with Jerry Urso, live on the fourth floor of the Main Library (Ansbacher Map Room). Urso is the Grand Historian of the Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge of Florida. His subject, Captain James W. Floyd, was a celebrated (and decorated) hero of the Spanish-American War, a business owner, and a civil rights activist from Jacksonville who met with President Warren G Harding.

Library Lovers' Day is celebrated on February 14 each year to honor libraries, librarians, book lovers, and anyone who loves libraries. If you're reading this, chances are you love your Library, too!

One of the best things about libraries is - they are a great place to find your community. When it comes to books you're interested in... who better to talk to than friendly, local folks who like the same genres, authors and characters?! If you'd like to meet some fellow bookworms and get some great reading recommendations while you're at it, consider joining a Library Book Club and/or the Jax Stacks Reading Challenge this month! 

OneJax and Interfaith Center will bring a panel of interfaith leaders to the Main Library on Thursday, January 18 at 7 p.m. for a 60-minute discussion promoting unity in our community. They will address antisemitism and other topics impacting our area including prejudices in faith, race, ethnicity, LGBTQ+, gender, and diverse abilities. The program is the fifth and final community panel in a speaker series1 that started in September 2023.

What would you do if you suffered a sudden, severe, and highly publicized fall from grace? Would you run? Seek out a quiet life of anonymity and seclusion? Or would you find a way to redeem yourself? Mr. Jimmy from Around the Way is a mesmerizing look at one man’s fall from grace and the age-old struggle for redemption. Meet the author, Jeffrey Blount, at our next Lit Chat Interview, live at the Pablo Creek Regional Library.

How do you best serve your creative processes? Where do you go for inspiration? How important is a writing community? And how can you carve out a life in this business of art? New York Times bestselling author Jami Attenberg will share ideas and perspectives for putting your creativity first at our next Writer's Lab workshop. Later that same day, she'll return for a Lit Chat Interview where she'll be in conversation with local author and interviewer, Nikesha Elise Wiliams.

The New York Times bestselling author of the 2022 memoir, I Came All This Way To Meet You, is coming all the way from New Orleans to meet you, her readers and fellow writers, at Jacksonville Public Library for two back-to-back bookish events! First up: Aspiring writers will learn how to best serve their own creative processes, find inspiration, and carve out a life in the business of art in a hands-on Writer's Lab workshop. Then, after lunch, Jami Attenberg returns for a Lit Chat interviewer and local author Nikesha Elise Williams.

The new year brings with it new releases, new challenges, fresh starts, and an all-new Library Book Club! Novel Pursuits meets on the third Saturday of the month at San Marco Branch Library. Where will our fiction collection take you? You'll have to join the club to find out! Book clubs are also one of the best ways to find out what other people are reading (and what they think about the books everyone else is reading). What do you say? Join us at your favorite library and let's talk books!