Celebrate Friends of the Library Week with us at the Friends of the Decatur Public Library, October 20-25! We have TWO pumpkins full of the "bookworms" (gummy worms) we have caught -- one in the Friends of the Library Bookstore downstairs, and one at the Children's Desk upstairs at the library.
HOW MANY gummy worms are in each one? Come in this week to each location and enter YOUR GUESS. If your guess is the closest to the actual number, you'll win the whole pumpkin full of "bookworms" PLUS a $5 coupon for the Friends of the Library Bookstore!
Enter in the Bookstore by filling out the entry slip there. - Enter at the Children's Desk by scanning the QR code there. - One entry per person per day. - In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined by the earliest date/time of submission. - Winners will be notified by phone/email the week of October 27.
The Saint Johns Bible volumes. Donald Jackson had a dream of hand writing the Bible and illustrating it. He approached Saint John’s Abbey about this and he spent the next seven years of his life producing seven volumes of books which reproduce the Bible’s entire text by hand. The project became known as The Saint John’s Bible. We obtained four of the seven volumes along with a book titled Illuminating The Word which is about how Jackson and his team of artists reproduced their magnificent work. We have the following volumes: Volume 1: Pentateuch (which is the first five books in the Old Testament),Volume 4: Psalms, Volume 5: Prophets and Volume 6: Gospels and Acts. These books are incredibly pricy on Bookfinder will a low of $50 to a high of $671, the Friends Bookstore is asking a scant $20 apiece for each of the five books we have. You can find them on Tony’s Special Book table. One of the volumes is still sealed (Prophets) which explains why there are no photos of the inside of it.
Annual FOL Membership Application 2025 FOL Membership Form Membership forms with payment may be mailed to "Friends of the Library, 130 N. Franklin St., Decatur, IL 62523" or brought into our Books & Beyond bookstore during business hours as listed in the letter.
FOL Phone Number - We do have an extension number you can use to notify us. Call the library at 217-424-2900 ex 6133. Leave a message and someone will return your call as soon as possible.
Book Donations and Dropoffs - Reminder: we are still accepting donations of used books. There is a cart located outside the main library entrance where donations can be left. All genres are needed. This is one of our main routes of fundraising. Thank you again for supporting your community by supporting Friends of the Library! - Also on second saturdays we will have someone to help you unload your book donations outside at the main door from 9:30 to 1:00. Clean books only please.
Please join us on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, at 12:15 in the Decatur Public Library's Madden Auditorium for Books Between Bites.
Topic: The Modern Ku Klux Klan in Illinois
Presenter: Mark Sorenson
November 5, 2025 Books Between Bites Mark W. Sorensen will present "The Modern Ku Klux Klan in Illinois" based on his article of the same name which appeared in the August 2025 issue of ILLINOIS HERITAGE magazine. Mark will discuss the beliefs and practices of the KKK in Illinois during the 1920s with a special review of what took place in Decatur and central Illinois. (picture at left is the KKK in Chicago in 1920 from the Joliet Daily Times Newspaper archives)
Mark Sorensen is the retired assistant director of the Illinois State Archives and a past president of the Illinois State Historical Society. He has had over forty state and local history articles published since 1980 and has a number of works currently on library and museum websites. He is currently the history consultant for the Heart of Illinois Foundation "Untold Stories" project. Twenty years ago he was named Official Macon County Historian by the county board.
Books Between Bites is a free program at the Decatur Public Library, sponsored by Friends of the Decatur Public Library
Any spicy romance readers out there? We have a lot of Samantha Chase located on Booktok shelves. Also a few more in the romance section. Biography section and general non-fiction was completely restocked today! Out with the old and in with the new! Open Thursday 3-6:30 and Saturday 9:30-12:30. We will be closed Monday as the library will be closed that day. If you have books on the hold shelf-please come pick them up!FOL booksales are at the library 3 to 4 days a week at the new Friends area on the lower level of the library. Open every Monday from 10:30am - 2:30pm, Tuesdays from 10:30am - 2:30pm, Thursdays from 3pm - 6:30pm. And second and fourth Saturdays sales are from 9:30am - 12:30pm.