Joliet Public Library

Joliet Public Library Read, Explore, Ask, Discover

We're excited for these young readers -- one is a brand-new library cardholder and one just finished reading 1,000 books...
09/05/2026

We're excited for these young readers -- one is a brand-new library cardholder and one just finished reading 1,000 books before kindergarten! 🎉

It's Library Card Sign-up Month -- the perfect time to get your free library card! Learn more here >> https://jolietlibrary.org/library-card/

The 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Challenge is a fun way to motivate you and your child to read books together beginning at birth. Reading together helps develop important literacy skills that provide a solid reading foundation — a key to school and learning success. 📚

Join the FREE 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Challenge >> https://jolietlibrary.org/1000-books-before-kindergarten/

🎲 Teens, grab your dice and join us for a Dungeons & Dragons adventure at the library. 🐉Create a character, team up with...
09/04/2026

🎲 Teens, grab your dice and join us for a Dungeons & Dragons adventure at the library. 🐉

Create a character, team up with fellow adventurers and see where the story takes you. No experience? No problem!

📍 Black Road Branch
📅 Tuesday, Sept. 15
⏰ 6-8 p.m.
🔗 Register: https://jolietpubliclibrary.libnet.info/event/17022720

✨📚 Genealogy Tip of the Month ✨Our Local History Librarian, Anneta Drilling, loves helping you uncover the stories hidde...
09/04/2026

✨📚 Genealogy Tip of the Month ✨

Our Local History Librarian, Anneta Drilling, loves helping you uncover the stories hidden in your family tree!

Here's this month's tip: Before 1906, any municipal, county, state or federal court of record could grant citizenship to any immigrant. A few indices and records have been donated to the National Archives from counties, states and local courts. These records are available at the National Archives. However, as a rule of thumb, that database repository doesn't have records created in state or local courts.

Interested in researching your family history? Visit Drilling in the Local History Room at the Ottawa Street Branch >> https://jolietlibrary.org/history-genealogy/

Everyone has something they love to do. This is your chance to put it on stage! 🎤✨We're looking for performers for our S...
09/03/2026

Everyone has something they love to do. This is your chance to put it on stage! 🎤✨

We're looking for performers for our Sept. 15 Talent Showcase. Whether you sing, dance, act, play an instrument, write poetry, draw, or have a completely unexpected talent, we want you to take the spotlight.

No need to be a professional—just bring your talent and have fun!

Performances must be family friendly and comply with library rules! If interested in performing, please call 815.846.3127 or email [email protected] with the subject title "Talent Showcase."

Join a timely conversation with Karen Hao, award-winning journalist and author of Inside the Empire of AI. In this virtu...
09/03/2026

Join a timely conversation with Karen Hao, award-winning journalist and author of Inside the Empire of AI. In this virtual event, Hao will explore the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, the social, political, and ethical questions surrounding AI development today, and the questions posed in her work – Will AI produce broad-based societal benefit for all? Or return us to an age of empire? The path forward is in our hands.

Whether you’re excited about AI, cautious about it, or just trying to understand the hype, this event offers an accessible look at one of today’s biggest technological shifts.

Register here >> https://bit.ly/ILPS6KarenHaoRegistration

Karen Hao is the instant New York Times bestselling author of Empire of AI and named one of the most influential people in AI by Time. She is lead designer of the Pulitzer Center’s AI Spotlight series as well as co-host of BBC’s podcast, The Interface. The first journalist to ever profile OpenAI, Hao was formerly a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, covering American and Chinese tech companies, and a senior editor for AI at MIT Technology Review. Her work has been cited by Congress, featured in university curriculums, and remade into museum exhibits.

Moderator
Reanna Esmail, Lead Librarian for Instruction at Cornell University and a prominent voice in critical digital pedagogy and intellectual freedom, will join Karen Hao in conversation.

Illinois Libraries Present

We would love to see you at our Family Storytimes! 🥰 They are fun, interactive experiences for kids from birth through 6...
09/03/2026

We would love to see you at our Family Storytimes! 🥰 They are fun, interactive experiences for kids from birth through 6 years old.

📍Black Road Branch
📆 Tuesdays
⏰ 6:30 - 7 p.m.

📍Ottawa Street Branch
📆 Wednesdays
⏰ 10:30 - 11 a.m.

📍Ottawa Street Branch
📆 Wednesdays
⏰ 6 - 6:30 p.m.

Joliet Public Library will be closed Monday, Sept. 7 for Labor Day. We will reopen at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8.
09/03/2026

Joliet Public Library will be closed Monday, Sept. 7 for Labor Day. We will reopen at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Address

150 N Ottawa Street
Joliet, IL
60432

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 9pm
Tuesday 9am - 9pm
Wednesday 9am - 9pm
Thursday 9am - 9pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+18157402660

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