Seed Library Returning in 2025!

AAPLD’s popular Seed Library returns on Saturday, March 1, 2025!

For our new season, we’ll offer the wide variety of flowers, vegetables, herbs and fruit you’ve come to love, plus some new surprises! An updated catalog will be posted in the coming months, for a preview of what’s to come.

One thing we’re changing: no more order forms!  Just come in, select up to 20 seed packets (1 packet per variety), and go!  You’ll see first hand what’s available, and won’t have to wonder if your seed order went through.

The Seed Library, offered in cooperation with the University of Illinois Agricultural Extension, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Illinois Master Gardeners of McHenry County, provides free seeds to local gardeners. You don’t need a library card to access seeds, nor do you have to return leftover seeds at the end of the season. To learn more, call the Adult Services desk, 847.458.6060, reach out on chat, or email info@aapld.org

We’re looking forward to a bountiful season!

Discover October’s Library Reads

October is here, time to revel in the spooky, and weird. This month's Library Reads-- fresh, new releases chosen by librarians across the country as their favorites-- offers plenty to choose from. What grabs your spooky season vibe? Murder on a college campus, a steamy romance between a princess and a minotaur, or the long-awaited sequel to a ghostly detective story? Browse the books here, or stop by the Main Library, and look for books with the Library Reads logo on the spine.

Supernatural Thriller

In the follow-up to the National Book Award–longlisted Shutter, Navajo forensic photographer Rita Todacheene grapples with a fanatical serial killer—and the ghosts he leaves behind.

Exposure by Romana Emerson - In Gallup, New Mexico,  a serial killer is operating unchecked. His targets: indigent Native people whose murders are easily disguised as death by exposure on the frigid winter streets. He slips unnoticed through town, hidden in plain sight by his unassuming nature, while the voices in his head guide him toward a terrifying vision of glory. As the Gallup detectives struggle to put the pieces together, they consider calling in a controversial specialist to help.

Rita Todacheene, Albuquerque PD forensic photographer, is at a crisis point in her career. Her colleagues are watching her with suspicion after the recent revelation that she can see the ghosts of murder victims. Her unmanageable caseload is further complicated by the fact that half the department has blacklisted her for ratting out a corrupt fellow cop. And back home in Tohatchi, on the Navajo reservation, Rita’s grandma is getting older. Maybe it’s time for Rita to leave policework behind entirely—if only the ghosts will let her.

Romance/Fantasy

Bull Moon Rising by Ruby Dixon In a world of magical artifacts and fantastical beings, a woman determined to save her family joins forces with an unlikely partner, in this steamy romantasy by USA Today bestselling author Ruby Dixon.

Aspeth Honori knows the importance of magical artifacts . . . which is why it’s a disaster that her father has gambled all theirs away.  Aspeth decides to do something about it. She’ll join the Royal Artifactual Guild and the adventurers who explore ancient underground ruins to retrieve the coveted arcane items.

It’s a great plan—with one big problem. The guild won’t let her train because she’s a woman. Aspeth needs a chaperone of some kind. The best way to get around this problem? Marry someone who will let her become an apprentice. Who better than a surly guild member who requires a favor of his own? He’s a minotaur (it’s fine) who is her teacher (also fine) . . . and he’s about to go into rut (which is where it gets tricky). He also has no idea she’s a noble (oops), and he’ll want nothing to do with her if he discovers her real identity.

Now Aspeth just has to pass the guild tests, thwart a fortune hunter, and save her hold—oh, and survive a rut with her monstrous, horned husband, whom she might be falling in love with.

It’s time to dig deep. Literally.

Suspense

Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown - Maya has returned to Princeton for her college reunion—it’s been a decade since she graduated, and she is looking forward to seeing old faces and reminiscing about her time there. This visit is special because Maya will also be attending the graduation of her little sister, Naomi.

But what should have been a dream weekend becomes Maya’s worst nightmare when she receives the news that Naomi is dead. The police are calling it an accident, but Maya suspects that there is more to the story than they are letting on.

As Maya pieces together what happened in the months leading up to her sister’s death, she begins to realize how much Naomi hid from her. Despite Maya’s warnings, Naomi had joined Sterling Club, the most exclusive social club on campus—the same one Maya belonged to. And if she had to guess, Naomi was likely tapped for the secret society within it.

The more Maya uncovers, the more terrified she becomes that Naomi’s decision to follow in her footsteps might have been what got her killed. Because Maya’s time at Princeton wasn’t as wonderful as she’d always made it seem—after all, her sister wasn’t the first young woman to turn up dead. Now every clue is leading Maya back to the past . . . and to the secret she’s kept all these years.

Meet October’s Featured Artist!

Painting of flowers in bold blues, reds and greensThis month on the Art Wall, in the Adult Services Department at AAPLD, you’ll find the work of artist Kim Anderson. A bead artist and retired law enforcement professional, Kim has turned her talents to watercolors and acrylics. Her art will be displayed through the month of October. Learn a little more about the talented artist behind the work.

The Artist: Kim Anderson
Community: Lake In The Hills
Background/training: For many years, my medium was beads, having been blessed with friendships with some of the premier artists in the Chicago bead community. Recently, I’ve been working with acrylics and watercolors, fine-tuning my style under the guidance of artist and teacher Eddwin Meyers.
Preferred media: Acrylics, watercolors and beads
Preferred subject: Flowers, and small quiet moments with lots of vibrant color and detail.
What do you want people to think/feel when looking at your work? I enjoy painting on a smaller scale, a study of the tiny details that make up the beauty, emotion and sense of a scene. I hope that viewers will come away with a greater appreciation of things normally taken for granted or wholly missed. Look, smile, and enjoy!

If you’re a local artist interested in exhibiting your work, please submit samples of your work and contact information to social@aapld.org