Chatham Area Public Library

06/23/2026

Chatham ROCKS!

Our kaleidoscope planter is full of colorful, painted rocks! We hope you enjoy looking at all of the amazing designs, and consider adding a painted rock from your collection to our planter! Also, eagle-eyed viewers will see a nod to Meghan Harmon, our former staff member, who we lost last year, who loved the band Radiohead.

06/22/2026

Looking for something fun to do tomorrow afternoon? Join us at the library at 2:00 PM for a little wacky, creative fun!

🎨 Tuesday, June 23: Wacky Art Gameshow with Do Art Productions

Expect silly challenges, creative surprises, lots of laughs, and plenty of opportunities to use your imagination. It's a fun-filled afternoon the whole family can enjoy!

06/22/2026

We’re celebrating International Mud Day Monday, June 29 with a special Storytime and muddy outdoor fun! Rain or shine, wear clothes and shoes that can get wet and dirty—we’ll hose off when we're done. Don’t forget a towel!

No registration required—just come ready to play!

06/20/2026

Come cool off with us! Grab a popsicle, run through the sprinkler, and enjoy some summer fun at the library. We'll be outside until 2:00 PM!

🎉 We Did It! 🎉

Together, you've reached our first Summer Reading community prize goal of 100,000 minutes read!

To celebrate, you've earned a Community Popsicle Party! 🍦☀️

Join us on Saturday, June 20, from 1:00–2:00 PM for a free popsicle and some extra summer fun. We'll have sprinklers set up so kids can cool off and play in the water!

💦 Wear clothes that can get wet and bring a towel.

Thank you for helping our community reach 100,000 minutes of reading. We can't wait to celebrate with you!

06/20/2026

Adam Gurski sent us an email and a thank you gift: Thank you again for having me out to present — I had a great time, and I really appreciated the warm welcome from you and everyone at the library.

I wanted to share something I built while I was at the library as a demonstration and a thank-you. It's called "Plant a Seed, Read!" — an interactive garden made for your Summer Reading 2026 theme.

You can try it right here: https://plant-a-seed.netlify.app/

Kids (or grown-ups) type in their first name and a book they finished, and the garden grows a one-of-a-kind flower for it — every name-and-book combination blooms differently. There are butterflies that flutter around and land on the flowers, clouds you can click to make it rain, a counter tracking how many books are growing in the garden, and a few hidden surprises for kids to discover on their own.

It even plays music: every flower is a harp string, so tapping one plays a gentle note — and you can hold and drag across the garden to strum the whole meadow. There's a small speaker button in the corner so staff can mute it whenever they like.

Have fun helping us plant and grow our garden!

06/20/2026

See what's new this week at the Chatham Area Public Library District at:

*** http://wowbrary.org/nu.aspx?fb&p=2592-288 ***

There are six new bestsellers, two new movies, six new audiobooks, two new children's books, and 22 other new books, including fifteen that are available online.

The new bestsellers this week include "Choke Point," "Dad Brain: The New Science of Fatherhood and How It Shapes Men's Lives," and "Harvest Season." The new movies this week are "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Season 1" and "Sentimental Value."

06/19/2026

Join us for virtual trivia, every Friday night!
Learn how to play along here:

https://www.crowd.live/JIFNF
Visit www.chathamlib.org/calendar to explore more library events!

06/19/2026

Flashback Friday! Today we have a double photo feature of a gas and convenience property located at 11 Plummer Blvd in Chatham. The first photo features an ad from 1997, when the property was known as the Foxx Creek Mobil gas station.

The station originally featured a Super Pantry convenience store until it was rebranded as Circle K around July 2014, when the company acquired the former brand. The second photo features the property in the present day. In addition to their gas and convenience services, they offer a car wash and vacuuming services.

We hope you enjoyed this unique piece of gas station history!

You can find more photos from Chatham's past at https://bit.ly/ChathamILAreaHistory.

06/19/2026

🪱 Join us next Thursday, June 25, for a special worm-themed storytime with University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener Melissa Skinner-Liberman!

Families will enjoy a story, meet some red wiggler worms, and learn how these tiny garden helpers turn food scraps into something great for plants.

After the presentation, kids and their grown-ups will have the opportunity to get hands-on with the worms (if they wish)!

Registration is required.

06/18/2026

We will be closed tomorrow, June 19th, in observation of Juneteenth. We wish you a safe and happy holiday! We will reopen Saturday, June 20th, at 9am.

While we are closed, our digital library is open 24/7. Check it out here: https://www.chathamlib.org/ebooks-and-more