Upcoming Events

This event is in the "All Ages" group.

Seed Library

All Day 3/1 - 5/1
All Ages
Educational Skills, Food, Health & Movement
Library Branch: Allendale Township Library
Age Group: All Ages
Program Type: Educational Skills, Food, Health & Movement
Event Details:

Help yourself to some seeds for your garden. Please limit to 10 packets per family. At the end of the season, harvest the seeds and return some to us for next year's Seed Library! The Seed Library will run March 1st thru May 1st. 

This event is in the "Adults" group.
This event is in the "Families" group.

Moms with Moms Group

10:00am - 11:00am
Adults, Families
Health & Movement
Library Branch: Allendale Township Library
Room: Meeting Room
Age Group: Adults, Families
Program Type: Health & Movement
Event Details:

All moms and children welcome! Join this maternal support group for play time and bonding with other mothers. Includes free coffee and tea.

This event is in the "Youth" group.
This event is in the "Children (Ages 0-6)" group.
This event is in the "School Age (Ages 6-10)" group.
This event is in the "Teens (Ages 11-18)" group.
This event is in the "Families" group.

Drive-In Movie

1:00pm - 3:00pm
Youth, Children (Ages 0-6), School Age (Ages 6-10), Teens (Ages 11-18), Families
Arts & Crafts, Movie
Open
Registration
Library Branch: Allendale Township Library
Room: Meeting Room
Age Group: Youth, Children (Ages 0-6), School Age (Ages 6-10), Teens (Ages 11-18), Families
Program Type: Arts & Crafts, Movie
Registration Required
Seats Remaining: 29
Event Details:

Decorate a cardboard box car and enjoy a "drive-in" movie at the library! We will be watching "The Wild Robot." All supplies and popcorn provided. For families. Registration required.

Disclaimer(s)

Food allergens

Food allergens may be present.

This event is in the "Youth" group.
This event is in the "Children (Ages 0-6)" group.

Storytime

10:00am - 10:30am
Youth, Children (Ages 0-6)
Storytime
Library Branch: Allendale Township Library
Room: Meeting Room
Age Group: Youth, Children (Ages 0-6)
Program Type: Storytime

We'll read stories, sing songs, practice early literacy skills, and have fun! For ages 6 and under with a caregiver.

Disclaimer(s)

Accompanying Caregiver

This program is designed for children and an accompanying caregiver. Please plan to attend and be engaged with your child for this program.

This event is in the "Youth" group.
This event is in the "Children (Ages 0-6)" group.

Baby Storytime

10:00am - 10:30am
Youth, Children (Ages 0-6)
Educational Skills
Library Branch: Allendale Township Library
Room: Meeting Room
Age Group: Youth, Children (Ages 0-6)
Program Type: Educational Skills
Event Details:

We’ll read stories, sing songs & rhymes, and play! For ages 0-2 with a caregiver. 

Disclaimer(s)

Accompanying Caregiver

This program is designed for children and an accompanying caregiver. Please plan to attend and be engaged with your child for this program.

This event is in the "Adults" group.

The Curious & Compassionate Book Club

6:30pm - 7:30pm
Adults
Book Club
Library Branch: Allendale Township Library
Room: Meeting Room
Age Group: Adults
Program Type: Book Club
Event Details:

This book club and the books chosen will encourage the exploration of diverse ideas and viewpoints.

Staff Picks

Image for "Tell Me Everything: Oprah's Book Club"

Tell Me Everything: Oprah's Book Club

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • From Pulitzer Prize–winning author Elizabeth Strout comes a “stunner” (People) of a novel about new friendships, old loves, and the very human desire to leave a mark on the world.

Tell Me Everything hits like a bucolic fable. . . . A novel of moods, how they govern our personal lives and public spaces, reflected in Strout’s shimmering technique.”—The Washington Post

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time, NPR, Vogue, Parade

With her remarkable insight into the human condition and silences that contain multitudes, Elizabeth Strout returns to the town of Crosby, Maine, and to her beloved cast of characters—Lucy Barton, Olive Kitteridge, Bob Burgess, and more—as they deal with a shocking crime in their midst, fall in love and yet choose to be apart, and grapple with the question, as Lucy Barton puts it, “What does anyone’s life mean?”

It’s autumn in Maine, and the town lawyer Bob Burgess has become enmeshed in an unfolding murder investigation, defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother. He has also fallen into a deep and abiding friendship with the acclaimed writer Lucy Barton, who lives down the road in a house by the sea with her ex-husband, William. Together, Lucy and Bob go on walks and talk about their lives, their fears and regrets, and what might have been. Lucy, meanwhile, is finally introduced to the iconic Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement community on the edge of town. They spend afternoons together in Olive’s apartment, telling each other stories. Stories about people they have known—“unrecorded lives,” Olive calls them—reanimating them, and, in the process, imbuing their lives with meaning.

Brimming with empathy and pathos, Tell Me Everything is Elizabeth Strout operating at the height of her powers, illuminating the ways in which our relationships keep us afloat. As Lucy says, “Love comes in so many different forms, but it is always love.”

Image for "The House of my Mother"

The House of My Mother

INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Heart-wrenchingly personal…dizzying.” —Rolling Stone

From eldest daughter Shari Franke, the shocking true story behind the viral 8 Passengers family vlog and the hidden abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, and how, in the face of unimaginable pain, she found freedom and healing.

Shari Franke’s childhood was a constant battle for survival. Her mother, Ruby Franke, enforced a severe moral code while maintaining a façade of a picture-perfect family for their wildly popular YouTube channel 8 Passengers, which documented the day-to-day life of raising six children for a staggering 2.5 million subscribers. But a darker truth lurked beneath the surface—Ruby’s wholesome online persona masked a more tyrannical parenting style than anyone could have imagined.

As the family’s YouTube notoriety grew, so too did Ruby’s delusions of righteousness. Fueled by the sadistic influence of relationship coach Jodi Hildebrandt, together they implemented an inhumane and merciless disciplinary regime.

Ruby and Jodi were arrested in Utah in 2023 on multiple charges of aggravated child abuse. On that fateful day, Shari shared a photo online of a police car outside their home. Her caption had one word: “Finally.”

For the first time, Shari will reveal the disturbing truth behind 8 Passengers and her family’s devastating involvement with Jodi Hildebrandt’s cultish life coaching program, “ConneXions.” No stone is left unturned as Shari exposes the perils of influencer culture and shares for the first time her battle for truth and survival in the face of her mother’s cruelty.

Image for "Forever, Interrputed"

Forever, Interrupted

Soon to be a Netflix limited series! 

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo—"Reid is seriously a genius when it comes to stories about life and love" (Redbook). "A stunning first novel” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

“Have you ever heard of supernovas? They shine brighter than anything else in the sky and then fade out really quickly, a short burst of extraordinary energy. I like to think you and Ben were like that . . . in that short time, you had more passion than some people have in a lifetime.”

Elsie Porter is an average twentysomething and yet what happens to her is anything but ordinary. On a rainy New Year’s Day, she heads out to pick up a pizza for one. She isn’t expecting to see anyone else in the shop, much less the adorable and charming Ben Ross. Their chemistry is instant and electric. Ben cannot even wait twenty-four hours before asking to see her again. Within weeks, the two are head over heels in love. By May, they’ve eloped.

Only nine days later, Ben is out riding his bike when he is hit by a truck and killed on impact. Elsie hears the sirens outside her apartment, but by the time she gets downstairs, he has already been whisked off to the emergency room. At the hospital, she must face Susan, the mother-in-law she has never met—and who doesn’t even know Elsie exists.

Interweaving Elsie and Ben’s charmed romance with Elsie and Susan’s healing process, Forever, Interrupted will remind you that there’s more than one way to find a happy ending.

Image for "The Friend Zone"

The Friend Zone

Fall in love with this hilarious and heartwarming USA Today bestselling romantic comedy that LJ Shen calls "an absolute treat."
Kristen Peterson doesn't do drama, will fight to the death for her friends, and has no room in her life for guys who just don't get her. She's also keeping a big secret: facing a medically necessary procedure that will make it impossible for her to have children.
Planning her best friend's wedding is bittersweet for Kristen -- especially when she meets the best man, Josh Copeland. He's funny, sexy, never offended by her mile-wide streak of sarcasm, and always one chicken enchilada ahead of her hangry. Even her dog, Stuntman Mike, adores him. The only catch: Josh wants a big family someday. Kristen knows he'd be better off with someone else, but as their attraction grows, it's harder and harder to keep him at arm's length.
The Friend Zone will have you laughing one moment and grabbing for tissues the next as it tackles the realities of infertility and loss with wit, heart, and a lot of sass.
"Your next favorite romantic comedy...The Friend Zone is that rare beach read with tons of heart that will make you laugh and cry in equal parts." ---PopSugar
"Your next rom-com to obsess and cry over." ---Cosmopolitan

Bookish Best Books of 2019 SheReads Best Romances of 2019 Women's Health Best Romance Novels of 2019 O, The Oprah Magazine Best Romance Novels of 2019 Good Housekeeping Best New Books for Summer 2019 PopSugar Best Books of Summer 2019 Bookstr Ultimate Summer 2019 Reading Guide Publishers Weekly Starred Review Booklist Starred Review Booklist Top 10 Romance Debuts of 2019

Image for "Quicksilver (The Fae & Alchemy Series Book 1)"

Quicksilver (The Fae & Alchemy Series Book 1)

From USA TODAY Bestselling Author Callie Hart comes a brand new, highly addicting enemies-to-lovers Romantasy with razor-sharp banter, heart-stopping action, and blistering hot romance that you won't be able to put down!

Do not touch the sword.

Do not turn the key.

Do not open the gate.

In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn't much a girl wouldn't do for a glass of water.

Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen's reservoirs for as long as she can remember.

But a secret is like a knot.

Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone.

When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently reopens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares...but it turns out they're real, and Saeris has landed herself right in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.

The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist's magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him... or her.

Death has a name.

It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate.

His past is murky.

His attitude stinks.

And he's the only way Saeris is going to make it home.

Be careful of the deals you make, dear child.

The devil is in the details...

N.B. Quicksilver contains depictions of graphic violence/adult situations and is therefore recommended for readers 17+. For a full list of tropes and TWs, please visit the author's website at www.calliehart.com.

Image for "The Ex Vows"

The Ex Vows

An Instant USA Today Bestseller!
An Indie Next Pick
A Library Reads Pick

Estranged exes must stick close together to save their best friend’s wedding after a string of disasters in this swoony and steamy second-chance romance from the USA Today bestselling author of You, with a View.

Georgia Woodward lives by her lists, none more so than the one about her ex, Eli Mora. It’s full of the ironclad dos and don’ts they’ve been following since she returned to the Bay Area after their cataclysmic breakup five years ago. 

With the wedding of their mutual best friend, Adam, looming, and them about to step into their roles as best woman and man, Georgia’s never needed it more. She refuses to threaten their tight-knit friend group with her messy—and still very present—feelings. The rules on that list will keep her cool, calm, and compartmentalized. 

What’s not on her list? Eli arriving from New York with a new rule-breaking attitude or the all-inclusive venue burning to the ground, leaving the bride and groom in dire straits. Nor does she anticipate Adam asking her and Eli to help him make a miracle happen. Together.

As Georgia and Eli rush up to Napa Valley to pull off the perfect wedding, their old chemistry comes back in technicolor. Somewhere between cake tastings gone wrong, disastrous DJ auditions, and Eli’s heated attention, Georgia starts recognizing the man she fell in love with before. And if she lets herself break her rules, she might find what they’re building isn’t the something old that ruined them—it’s a chance at something new.

Image for "The Bodyguard"

The Bodyguard

Katherine Center's The Bodyguard is “My perfect 10 of a book. As funny and sweet as all the very best nineties rom-coms, but with Center’s signature heart-tugging depth. I wish I could erase it from my mind just to read it again for the first time. A shot of pure joy.”—Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers

She’s got his back.
Hannah Brooks looks more like a kindergarten teacher than somebody who could kill you with a wine bottle opener. Or a ballpoint pen. Or a dinner napkin. But the truth is, she’s an Executive Protection Agent (aka "bodyguard"), and she just got hired to protect superstar actor Jack Stapleton from his middle-aged, corgi-breeding stalker.

He’s got her heart.
Jack Stapleton’s a household name—captured by paparazzi on beaches the world over, famous for, among other things, rising out of the waves in all manner of clingy board shorts and glistening like a Roman deity. But a few years back, in the wake of a family tragedy, he dropped from the public eye and went off the grid.

They’ve got a secret.
When Jack’s mom gets sick, he goes home to the family’s Texas ranch to help out. Only one catch: He doesn’t want his family to know about his stalker. Or the bodyguard thing. And so Hannah—against her will and her better judgment—finds herself pretending to be Jack’s girlfriend as a cover. Even though her ex, says no one will believe it.

What could possibly go wrong?
Hannah hardly believes it, herself. But the more time she spends with Jack, the more real it all starts to seem. And there lies the heartbreak. Because it’s easy for Hannah to protect Jack. But protecting her own, long-neglected heart? That’s the hardest thing she’s ever done.

“Great rollicking fun! Prepare to laugh and swoon and grin your pants off.”—Helen Hoang, New York Times bestselling author of The Heart Principle 

"Absolutely, unequivocally delightful!"—Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wish You Were Here

Image for "Once Upon a River"

Once Upon a River

From the instant #1 New York Times bestselling author of the “eerie and fascinating” (USA TODAY) The Thirteenth Tale comes a “swift and entrancing, profound and beautiful” (Madeline Miller, internationally bestselling author of Circe) novel about how we explain the world to ourselves, ourselves to others, and the meaning of our lives in a universe that remains impenetrably mysterious.

On a dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the river Thames, an extraordinary event takes place. The regulars are telling stories to while away the dark hours, when the door bursts open on a grievously wounded stranger. In his arms is the lifeless body of a small child. Hours later, the girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Is it a miracle? Is it magic? Or can science provide an explanation? These questions have many answers, some of them quite dark indeed.

Those who dwell on the river bank apply all their ingenuity to solving the puzzle of the girl who died and lived again, yet as the days pass the mystery only deepens. The child herself is mute and unable to answer the essential questions: Who is she? Where did she come from? And to whom does she belong? But answers proliferate nonetheless.

Three families are keen to claim her. A wealthy young mother knows the girl is her kidnapped daughter, missing for two years. A farming family reeling from the discovery of their son’s secret liaison stand ready to welcome their granddaughter. The parson’s housekeeper, humble and isolated, sees in the child the image of her younger sister. But the return of a lost child is not without complications and no matter how heartbreaking the past losses, no matter how precious the child herself, this girl cannot be everyone’s. Each family has mysteries of its own, and many secrets must be revealed before the girl’s identity can be known.

Once Upon a River is a glorious tapestry of a book that combines folklore and science, magic and myth. Suspenseful, romantic, and richly atmospheric, this is “a beguiling tale, full of twists and turns like the river at its heart, and just as rich and intriguing” (M.L. Stedman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Light Between Oceans).