24 Books for Christmas!
Start a new tradition this year! Forget that elf and do a countdown to Christmas. More fun reading with your kids and not having to worry about what that elf is doing! We are all set up for Christmas. Come pick out 24 books for your kids (they do not have to be all Christmas books). Most books are .50 or $1. Then give them to us and for $15 we will wrap them up for you. Each night pick a new book to unwrap and read. Open Monday & Tuesday 10:30-2:30 and Thursday 3-6:30.
200 New Paperbacks!
HUGE shout out to the people who donated over 200 NEW paperbacks! Thank you SO much! Included in the recent donation are Bridgerton and Longmire books! Also Colleen Hoover, Christine Feehan (romance section) and sets from Ellen Dugan plus many more! Come shop with us
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.