2025 Friends of the Library Annual Membership Signup Info
It is once again time to renew your annual membership. Please find attached a letter from our President, Charles Smith, and a 2025 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. Thank you again for supporting your community by supporting Friends of the Library !
2025 FOL Membership Invitation Letter 2025 FOL Membership Form
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 - 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. Thanks.
Books Between Bites – February 5, 2025
Books Between Bites – February 5, 2025 Please join us on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, at 12:15 in the Decatur Public Library’s Madden Auditorium for a Books Between Bites.
Book Title: His Truth is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope
Author: Jon Meacham Presenter: Fred Spannaus
About the Book: His Truth is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope by Jon Meacham is a powerful memoir that reflects on the life and legacy of the late civil rights icon John Lewis. The book chronicles Lewis’ transformation from a young boy growing up amid racial segregation in the rural South to an iconic civil rights activist inspired by Christian teachings of justice and equality. Covering events that took place in the southern United States mostly in Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, the book portrays Lewis as a visionary and a man of faith who marched in Selma, Alabama, and was beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. (Shortform.com)
About The Author: Jon Ellis Meacham is an American writer, reviewer, historian and presidential biographer who is serving as the Canon Historian of the Washington National Cathedral since November 7, 2021. A former executive editor and executive vice president at Random House, he is a contributing writer to The New York Times Book Review, a contributing editor to Time magazine, and a former editor-in chief of Newsweek. He is the author of several books. He won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. He holds the Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Endowed Chair in American Presidency at Vanderbilt University. (Wikipedia)
About The Presenter: Fred Spannaus is an independent consultant based in Decatur working in the areas of homelessness, human rights, and human resources. He advises several Illinois communities on strategies to reduce homelessness. He conducts human rights investigations for the City of Decatur’s Human Relations Commission. He currently serves as president of the Decatur Area Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management. Prior to becoming a consultant in 1997, Fred worked in the nonprofit sector, spending two decades as executive director for Dove, Inc. Fred is a former member of the Decatur School Board and is currently on the DPS Foundation board. Fred has a bachelor’s degree from Valparaiso University and a master’s degree from the University of Illinois at Springfield. He has also taken post-graduate studies at DePaul University. He is married to Connie Requarth, and they enjoy a blended family with five grown children and eight grandchildren.
Books Between Bites is a free program at the Decatur Public Library, sponsored by the Friends of the Decatur Library
Weekday and Second Saturday Book Sales!
FOL booksales are at the library 3 to 4 days a week! At the new Friends area on the lower level of the library. Every Monday from 10:30am – 2:30pm, Tuesdays from 10:30am – 2:30pm, Thursdays from 3pm – 6:30pm. Second & fourth Saturdays sales are from 9:30am – 12:30pm.
Book Buddies
Looking for something to do with a friend or family member? Try Book Buddies! We have paired two of the same books together. The pair will cost $1-$2. Each read the book then get together over lunch or dinner and share your thoughts! Try a new author for a change of pace.