Upcoming Events

This event is in the "Adult" group

Spring Migration Bird Walk

10:00am–11:30am
Adult
Registration Required
Offsite Event
Library Branch: Off Site
Age Group: Adult
Program Type: Presentations
Registration Required
Event Details:

Join an expert birder for a spring migration bird walk at Bemis Woods! Springtime is most birders' favorite time of year in the Chicago area, as breeding birds are singing and migrating birds are pouring through.

This event is in the "Teen & Tween" group
Registration Required
Library Branch: Thomas Ford Memorial Library
Room: Program Room
Age Group: Teen & Tween
Program Type: Arts & Crafts, Hands On, STEAM
Registration Required
Event Details:

Join us to learn how you can make your community safer for migrating birds. We'll create some bird-inspired art and you'll get a window decal kit to take home.

This event is in the "Adult" group

Knitting Circle

1:00pm–3:00pm
Adult
Library Branch: Thomas Ford Memorial Library
Room: Board Room
Age Group: Adult
Program Type: Arts & Crafts, Clubs & Groups

Knitting Circle

No charge, no registration: all knitters and crafters are welcome for conversation and inspiration. 

This event is in the "Children" group

Ford LEGO Creators

4:00pm–4:45pm
Children
Registration Required
Library Branch: Thomas Ford Memorial Library
Room: Program Room
Age Group: Children
Program Type: Clubs & Groups, Hands On, STEAM
Registration Required
Event Details:

Bring your ideas and imagination to the Library to create a LEGO model! The Library will provide LEGO bricks for this program.

Disclaimer(s)

Safe Child Policy

Parents/caregivers of children 8 years and under are required to stay in the Youth Services Department for the duration of the program per library policy.

This event is in the "Children" group
This event is in the "Teen & Tween" group
This event is in the "Adult" group
This event is in the "All Ages" group

Free Comic Book Day

All Day
Children, Teen & Tween, Adult, All Ages
Library Branch: Thomas Ford Memorial Library
Room: Thomas Ford Memorial Library
Age Group: Children, Teen & Tween, Adult, All Ages
Program Type: Community Events
Event Details:

Stop by to pick up free comics for all ages! Titles will be available on a first come, first served basis while supplies last. Comics provided by Blerds Underground in La Grange.

This event is in the "Children" group
This event is in the "Families" group

Oakley's Welcome Party!

10:30am–11:30am
Children, Families
Library Branch: Thomas Ford Memorial Library
Room: Program Room
Age Group: Children, Families
Program Type: Arts & Crafts, Hands On
Event Details:

Drop-in Event, No Registration Required.

Come welcome our new Youth Services mascot, Oakley the Squirrel! We’ll celebrate Oakely’s arrival with a party full of fun games and crafts. 

New & Noteworthy

Staff Picks

Image for "The Ivory City"

The Ivory City

A USA TODAY National Bestseller

The Devil in the White City meets Pride and Prejudice in this romantic historical murder mystery set at the 1904 World's Fair.

The St. Louis World's Fair, 1904:

A miniature city of palaces and pavilions that becomes a backdrop for romance, betrayal--and murder.

Cousins Grace and Lillie have been best friends since birth, despite Grace's vastly inferior social status ever since her mother married for love instead of wealth. When Lillie invites Grace to the biggest event of the century--the legendary World's Fair, also known as "The Ivory City"--Grace hopes her fortunes might be about to change.

But when a member of their party is brutally killed at the fair, and suspicion falls on Lillie's brother Oliver, Grace must prove Oliver's innocence before her beloved cousins' family is ruined forever.

Along the way, she'll discover that the city's wealthy elite--including Oliver's handsome but irritable friend Theodore--aren't quite who they appear to be. And amidst the glitz, glamor, and magic of the Ivory City lurks a danger that just may claim her life.

"Grace Covington is the perfect amateur detective mixing charm and ingenuity in this richly detailed murder mystery." --Julia Kelly, international bestselling author of A Traitor in Whitehall"Vividly drawn with rich historical detail, The Ivory City is a sizzling mystery filled with intrigue, glamour and good old-fashioned romance that brilliantly ignites against the backdrop of the St. Louis World's Fair. Emily Bain Murphy's latest novel is a sheer delight!" ―Alyson Richman, USA and International Bestselling author of The Time Keepers and The Missing Pages

Cover with an illustration of a bird among berries and leaves

The Serviceberry

An Instant New York Times Bestseller

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world.

As Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth—its abundance of sweet, juicy berries—to meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution ensures its own survival. As Kimmerer explains, “Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.”

As Elizabeth Gilbert writes, Robin Wall Kimmerer is “a great teacher, and her words are a hymn of love to the world.” The Serviceberry is an antidote to the broken relationships and misguided goals of our times, and a reminder that “hoarding won’t save us, all flourishing is mutual.”

Robin Wall Kimmerer is donating her advance payments from this book as a reciprocal gift, back to the land, for land protection, restoration, and justice.

Image for "The Executioners Three"

The Executioners Three

An instant New York Times, USA Today, and Indie bestseller!

From New York Times bestselling author Susan Dennard comes The Executioners Three, a mystery filled with rivalry, romance, best friends, and a gruesome curse that dates back centuries.

*This beautiful hardcover edition includes designed printed edges and special endpapers.*

Freddie Gellar didn't mean to get half the rival high school arrested. She’d simply heard shrieks coming from the woods, so she’d called the cops like any good human would do. How was she supposed to know it was just kids partying?

Except the next day, a body is found. And while the local sheriff might call it suicide, Freddie's instincts tell her otherwise. So, like the aspiring sleuth (and true X-Files aficionado) she is, Freddie sets out to prove there's a murderer at large.

But her investigation is quickly disrupted by the rivalry between her school and the school of the partying teens she got arrested. For over twenty years, the two student bodies have had an ongoing prank war, and Freddie's failed attempt at Good Samaritanism has upped the ante. Worse, the clever—and gorgeous—leader of the rival prank squad has set his sights on Freddie.

As more pranks unfurl, more bodies also start piling up in the forest. But it's the supernatural warning signs around town, each plucked straight from an old forgotten poem called "The Executioners Three," that worry Freddie the most. She knows the poem and its blood curse can’t be real, but she's quickly running out of time to prove it.

Because the murderer—or executioners?—knows she's onto them now, and their next target just might be Freddie.

"An irresistible blend of small-town murder mystery and spine-tingling supernatural elements."—Karen M. McManus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying


Also by Susan Dennard

The Luminaries trilogy
The Luminaries
The Hunting Moon
The Whispering Night

The Witchlands series
Truthwitch
Windwitch
Sightwitch (novella)
Bloodwitch
Witchshadow
Witchlight