Jessie F. Hallett Memorial Library

Tales Retold Book Club
2026-03-03 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Chicago)
We will be meeting on the first Tuesday of every month, to read and discuss original works and spin-offs or retellings based on them.
Our March pick is a Mansfield Park Retelling.
This Motherless Land by Nikki May.
Summary:
Quiet Funke is happy in Nigeria. She loves her art teacher mother, her professor father, and even her annoying little brother (most of the time). But when tragedy strikes, she’s sent to England, a place she knows only from her mother’s stories. To her dismay, she finds the much-lauded estate dilapidated, the food tasteless, the weather grey. Worse still, her mother’s family are cold and distant. With one exception: her cousin Liv.
Free-spirited Liv has always wanted to break free of her joyless family. She becomes fiercely protective of her little cousin, and her warmth and kindness give Funke a place to heal. The two girls grow into adulthood the closest of friends.
But the choices their mothers made haunt Funke and Liv and when a second tragedy occurs their friendship is torn apart. Against the long shadow of their shared family history, each woman will struggle to chart a path forward, separated by country, misunderstanding, and ambition.

Preschool Story Hour
2026-03-04 10:30 - 11:30, 2026-03-11 10:30 - 11:30, 2026-03-18 10:30 - 11:30, 2026-03-25 10:30 - 11:30, 2026-04-01 10:30 - 11:30, 2026-04-08 10:30 - 11:30
https://www.facebook.com/events/706749379759691/

Drop-In Job Search Help
2026-03-09 10:30 - 14:30, 2026-03-16 10:30 - 14:30, 2026-03-23 10:30 - 14:30, 2026-03-30 10:30 - 14:30, 2026-04-06 10:30 - 14:30, 2026-04-13 10:30 - 14:30
Mondays – 10:30 am – 2:30 pm | No Appointment Needed!
Join us for free job search assistance at the library! Job search help sessions are informal, open hours where job seekers can get one-on-one assistance. Our friendly staff and volunteers are here to support you in your career journey!
Get help with:

Reviewing and updating resumes
Creating cover letters
Practicing interview questions
Effectively searching for jobs online
Feedback on LinkedIn profiles
Exploring career paths
And other job search resources

Anime and Manga Club
2026-03-10 17:30 - 19:30
Anime & Manga Club
All junior and senior high students welcome.
We will be sharing sketches, having pizza, and watching an anime feature film.

Jane Austen Book Club
2026-03-12 17:30 - 18:30
Thursday, March 12th @ 4:30 pm
The Jane Austen Book Club is the second Thursday of every month.
We will be reading through all of Jane Austen’s works.
For March we will be starting Northanger Abbey.
Summary: Catherine Morland, a remarkably innocent seventeen-year-old woman from a country parsonage. While spending a few weeks in Bath with a family friend, Catherine meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Catherine, a great reader of Gothic thrillers, lets the shadowy atmosphere of the old mansion fill her mind with terrible suspicions. What is the mystery surrounding the death of Henry’s mother? Is the family concealing a terrible secret within the elegant rooms of the Abbey? Can she trust Henry, or is he part of an evil conspiracy? Catherine finds dreadful portents in the most prosaic events, until Henry persuades her to see the peril in confusing life with art.

Movie Night
2026-03-12 17:30 - 19:30
Second Thursday of every month @ 5:30
We’ll pop the popcorn, you bring your blanket and any other snacks!
The movie goers get to pick the movie for next month.

Our movie for March is Bad Guys 2.

Summary:
Reformed criminals Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Shark and Ms. Tarantula are trying very hard to be good. However, they soon find themselves hijacked into a high-stakes heist that’s masterminded by a new team of delinquents they never saw coming — the Bad Girls.

Friends Meeting
2026-03-13 09:00 - 10:00, 2026-04-10 09:00 - 10:00
The JFHML Friends meet on the 2nd Friday of every month at 9:00.
We discuss fundraising and program ideas, project and volunteer opportunities, and more!
Join our meetings and get involved at the Library!

Banned Book Club
2026-03-17 16:00 - 17:00
Every month we’ll read a book that has been banned or challenged. We’ve picked the first few reads, but we want your suggestions for what we read going forward!
Banned Book Club will meet the third Tuesday of each month.
Our pick for March is The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley.
Book Summary:
It’s 1993, and Generation X pulses to the beat of Kurt Cobain and the grunge movement. Sixteen-year-old Maggie Lynch is uprooted from big-city Chicago to a windswept town on the Irish Sea. Surviving on care packages of Spin magazine and Twizzlers from her rocker uncle Kevin, she wonders if she’ll ever find her place in this new world. When first love and sudden death simultaneously strike, a naive but determined Maggie embarks on a forbidden pilgrimage that will take her to a seedy part of Dublin and on to a life- altering night in Rome to fulfill a dying wish. Through it all, Maggie discovers an untapped inner strength to do the most difficult but rewarding thing of all, live..

JFHML Book Club
2026-03-19 17:00 - 18:00
Join the Library’s adult book club that meets the third Thursday of every month at 5:00!
Extra copies of the book are available at the front desk!
Our March selection is Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.
Book Summary:

Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.
There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.

Egg Hunt
2026-03-21 11:00 - 12:00
Get ready for an egg-citing adventure!
Join us for our annual Egg Hunt, a fun-filled tradition for all ages!
Where will we hunt?The event may take place indoors, outdoors, or both, depending on the weather! On the day of the hunt, staff and volunteers will direct you to the waiting area, where you’ll receive further instructions.
How does it work?Each child will search for 10 eggs – but don’t worry, all eggs are empty!Once they’ve found their 10, they’ll return to the start to exchange them for a goody bag filled with treats.Bonus challenge for older kids: All 10 eggs must be the same color!
What to bring?We recommend bringing a basket or bag to carry your eggs!
Up for an even bigger challenge?The Speckled Egg Hunt begins the following week for those who love a tricky search!

Donations Needed!We’re asking for donations of bags of individually wrapped candy to help fill our goody bags. Last year we had 80 searchers, which equals lots of candy!! Your support is greatly appreciated!

Writer's Workshop
2026-03-24 18:00 - 19:30
Featuring guest author Susan Schussler.
Join us for the kickoff of our Writing Workshop Series to connect with other writers, share ideas, and get inspired! Hear from our guest author and dive into a hands-on writing session where you can receive feedback on your work.
In this session, we’ll explore:

The fundamentals of writing your story
Organizing your ideas and putting first words on a blank page
Setting yourself up for writing success

Start strong, stay inspired, and move your story ahead!
Light snacks are provided.

Game Night
2026-03-26 17:00 - 18:00
Last Thursday of every month, at 5:00pm.
Join us for games and puzzles.

Craft Club
2026-03-28 12:00 - 13:00
Saturday, January 31st @ 12:00
Join us on the last Saturday of every month to craft.
Feel free to bring a project to work on while we talk about our spotlight craft of the month.
January’s spotlight craft is journaling.

Craft Club
2026-03-28 12:00 - 13:00
Saturday, June 27th @ 12:00
Join us on the last Saturday of every month to craft together.
Bring a project to work on.

TAB
2026-04-07 15:30 - 16:30
What is TAB?
TAB stands for Teen Advisory Board, and is a team of teenagers that help promote the library. TAB meets monthly on the first Wednesday of every month, at 3:30pm.
What do you do on TAB?
All sorts of things!

Plan, promote, and run programs with Library staff
Contribute to Library social media (Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok)
Promote the library to friends and classmates
Suggest books and other materials for the library to purchase
Learn about the Library and how it works!
Volunteer Opportunities
Redesign the Teen Area of the Library

Apply for TAB
TAB Application.pdf
Questions?
Email our librarian, Abby, or call the library! (218-546-8005)

Tales Retold Book Club
2026-04-07 17:00 - 18:00
We will be meeting on the first Tuesday of every month, to read and discuss original works and spin-offs or retellings based on them.
Our April pick is a Romeo and Juliet Retelling.
Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomons.
Summary:
Was the greatest ever love story a lie?
The first time Romeo Montague sees young Rosaline Capulet he falls instantly in love. Rosaline, headstrong and independent, is unsure of Romeo’s attentions but with her father determined that she join a convent, this handsome and charming stranger offers her the chance of a different life.
Soon though, Rosaline begins to doubt all that Romeo has told her. She breaks off the match, only for Romeo’s gaze to turn towards her cousin, thirteen-year-old Juliet. Gradually Rosaline realizes that it is not only Juliet’s reputation at stake, but her life .With only hours remaining before she will be banished behind the nunnery walls, will Rosaline save Juliet from her Romeo? Or can this story only ever end one way?
For more information about this book club click here.

Jane Austen Book Club
2026-04-09 17:30 - 18:30
The Jane Austen Book Club is the second Thursday of every month.
We will be reading through all of Jane Austen’s works.
For April we will be continuing Northanger Abbey.
Summary: Catherine Morland, a remarkably innocent seventeen-year-old woman from a country parsonage. While spending a few weeks in Bath with a family friend, Catherine meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Catherine, a great reader of Gothic thrillers, lets the shadowy atmosphere of the old mansion fill her mind with terrible suspicions. What is the mystery surrounding the death of Henry’s mother? Is the family concealing a terrible secret within the elegant rooms of the Abbey? Can she trust Henry, or is he part of an evil conspiracy? Catherine finds dreadful portents in the most prosaic events, until Henry persuades her to see the peril in confusing life with art.

Movie Night
2026-04-09 17:30 - 19:30
Second Thursday of every month @ 5:30
We’ll pop the popcorn, you bring your blanket and any other snacks!

The movie goers get to pick the movie for the upcoming month!

Our movie for September is Moana 2.

Summary:
After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, a strong-willed girl journeys with her crew to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she has ever faced.

Movie Night
2026-04-09 17:30 - 19:30
Second Thursday of every month @ 5:30
We’ll pop the popcorn, you bring your blanket and any other snacks!
The movie goers get to pick the movie for next month.

Our movie for July is The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

Summary:
Mario ventures into space, exploring cosmic worlds and tackling galactic challenges far from the familiar Mushroom Kingdom.
