This guy has been MIA the last few weeks! Rumor has it he may be back this week. This will mean that the special book area will be updated along with DVD’s and CD’s! Did you know that Tony has a weekly column in the Tribune? Read his article and keep up with everything bookish.
Did you know we also have puzzles in our store? The puzzle shelf has just been completely restocked! We have over 30 puzzles donated this week! They are in great shape and all popular brands. None priced over $6.
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 - 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 ! Thanks.
Free to the public!
Please join us on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, at 12:15 in the
Decatur Public Library’s Madden Auditorium for Books Between Bites.
Book: Mark Twain - Author: Ron Chernow
Presenter: Deborah Vanzant
About the Book: Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow illuminates the full, fascinating, and complex life of the writer long celebrated as the father of American literature, Mark Twain Before he was Mark Twain, he was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Born in 1835, the man who would become America’s first, and most influential, literary celebrity spent his childhood dreaming of piloting steamboats on the Mississippi. But when the Civil War interrupted his career on the river, the young Twain went west to the Nevada Territory and accepted a job at a local newspaper, writing dispatches that attracted attention for their brashness and humor. It wasn’t long before the former steamboat pilot from Missouri was recognized across the country for his literary brilliance, writing under a pen name that he would immortalize. - Amazon
About the Author: Ronald Chernow, Born March 3, 1949, is an American writer, journalist, and biographer. He has written bestselling historical non-fiction biographies. Chernow won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the 2011 American History Book Prize for his 2010 book Washington: A Life. He is also the recipient of the National Book Award for Nonfiction for his 1990 book The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance.[3] His biographies of Alexander Hamilton (2004) and John D. Rockefeller (1998) were both nominated for National Book Critics Circle Awards. - Wikipedia
Books Between Bites is a free program at the Decatur Public Library, sponsored by Friends of the Decatur Public Library
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. And second & fourth Saturdays sales are from 9:30am – 12:30pm.
Calling all fans of Decatur memorabilia from 39 years ago! We know it isn’t a book, but there are a lot of fans of our Local History section where we sell books on Decatur or by Decatur authors, so perhaps someone wants this Decatur Celebration poster from 1986. It is mint condition and the artwork is by Decatur native Larry Wetherholt and it measures 18 x 24. We are selling this for a mere $2. If you are interested ask someone at the sales table to fetch Tony the Special Book Guy and he will bring you into the sorting room to check this out in person!