Library News

December 4, 2025

FDL Reads: Two Tribes

Alice reviews children's graphic novel about a young Jewish–Muscogee girl who struggles to reconcile her dual heritage and identity.

Upcoming Events

This event is in the "Children" group
This event is in the "Teens" group
This event is in the "Adults" group

Friends Holiday Basket Drawing

All Day 12/1–12/15
Children, Teens, Adults
Library Branch: Fondulac District Library
Age Group: Children, Teens, Adults
Program Type: Friends of the Library
Event Details:

The Friends of Fondulac District Library sponsor an annual drawing for one of three gift baskets full of holiday fun for the whole family, including gift cards! Stop by FDL December 1 to 15 to enter. Winners will be selected December 16.

This event is in the "Teens" group
This event is in the "Adults" group

Glowforge Paper-Style Snowflake Earrings

6:00pm–7:30pm
Teens, Adults
Waitlist
Registration Required
Library Branch: Fondulac District Library
Room: Story & Craft Room
Age Group: Teens, Adults
Program Type: Arts & Crafts, Technology, Computers, & Science
Registration Required
Event Details:

Get into the winter spirit with a set of laser cut snowflake earrings.  We will add the hardware with jewelry tools at the program.

This event is in the "Adults" group

Zen Zone

6:30pm–7:30pm
Adults
Cancelled
Library Branch: Fondulac District Library
Room: Kolb Memorial Conference Room
Age Group: Adults
Program Type: Arts & Crafts
Event Details:

An adults-only oasis of relaxing activities such as coloring and calligraphy tracing (supplies provided). Enjoy the friendly conversation, or just focus on taking time for yourself.

This event is in the "Children" group
This event is in the "Babies & Toddlers" group
This event is in the "Preschoolers" group
This event is in the "School-aged Children" group
This event is in the "Teens" group
This event is in the "Adults" group

Friends of Fondulac District Library Holiday Bake & Craft Sale

10:00am–6:00pm
Children, Babies & Toddlers, Preschoolers, School-aged Children, Teens, Adults
Library Branch: Fondulac District Library
Room: Civic Complex Atrium
Age Group: Children, Babies & Toddlers, Preschoolers, School-aged Children, Teens, Adults
Program Type: Friends of the Library, Special Events
Event Details:

Join the Friends of the Library for their annual Craft and Bake sale! They will have delicious homemade treats and craft items that make great holiday gifts.

This event is in the "Children" group
This event is in the "Babies & Toddlers" group
This event is in the "Preschoolers" group
This event is in the "School-aged Children" group
This event is in the "Teens" group
This event is in the "Adults" group

Friends of Fondulac District Library Holiday Bake & Craft Sale

9:00am–1:00pm
Children, Babies & Toddlers, Preschoolers, School-aged Children, Teens, Adults
Library Branch: Fondulac District Library
Room: Civic Complex Atrium
Age Group: Children, Babies & Toddlers, Preschoolers, School-aged Children, Teens, Adults
Program Type: Friends of the Library, Special Events
Event Details:

Join the Friends of the Library for their annual Craft and Bake sale! They will have delicious homemade treats and craft items that make great holiday gifts.

This event is in the "Children" group
This event is in the "Preschoolers" group
This event is in the "School-aged Children" group

Paws to Read Session 1

10:00am–10:30am
Children, Preschoolers, School-aged Children
Registration Open
Registration Required
Library Branch: Fondulac District Library
Room: Story & Craft Room
Age Group: Children, Preschoolers, School-aged Children
Program Type: Special Events, Storytimes
Registration Required
Event Details:

Come join us as the Peoria Humane Society stops by the library with some furry friends! They will be bringing therapy dogs for kids to read with between 10:00am and 11:00am.

Disclaimer(s)

Accompanying Adults

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

Animals Present

Animals will be present at this program. The library intends to keep this event as safe as possible. Please be mindful of your needs as the library can offer no guarantees concerning animal behavior and potential allergens.

FDL Features

Image for "The Holiday Mix-Up"

The Holiday Mix-Up

While You Were Sleeping meets The Wedding Date with a fun Puerto Rican holiday twist in NYT and USA Today bestselling author Ginny Baird's latest sweet romance, in which a diner waitress agrees to be her patron's fake date...only for him to land in a coma and her to be stuck playing his sweetheart with his family all week long.

Lonely-hearted waitress Katie Smith has nowhere to go for Christmas, and a huge crush on her gorgeous diner patron Juan Martinez. So when Juan asks Katie to pose as his girlfriend for holiday festivities at his family's winery, Katie leaps at the chance...that is, until an accident lands Juan in a coma right after giving his folks the "news." Katie knows she should tell the Martinezes the truth, but when they immediately embrace her, Katie is reluctant to let her fantasy of a family holiday go. And then there's Juan's brother, Mateo, whose smile tugs at her heartstrings just right--and who tells her perfect Juan might not be everything he seems.

Second son Mateo Martinez loves his brother, but Juan's plan to "rebrand and expand" Los Cielos Cellars has cost their family too much and put its entire tradition in jeopardy. Katie seems to understand, but she's still committed to Juan...even when Mateo starts to wish her gentle heart and beautiful smile were committed to him instead. With the winery at stake, secrets on all sides, and Juan due to wake up any day, can Katie and Mateo follow their hearts to a Christmas miracle, or will this mix-up ruin their chances?

Praise for The Holiday Mix-Up:

"Fans of Hallmark movies and authors Sophie Cousens and Lia Louis will appreciate this wholesome holiday offering from Baird." --Library Journal

"Baird excels at capturing the Martinez family's warmhearted and somewhat kooky dynamic, adding to the cozy, homey atmosphere. This is a delight." --Publishers Weekly

Image for "The Twelve Dogs of Christmas"

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas

"Don't miss this charming Christmas tale of thawing hearts, escaping dogs, and finding home. I couldn't help digging into this book with both paws." --Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Must Love Flowers

The ultimate holiday gift from New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs: a delightful novel about a Christmas transport of rescue puppies that's guaranteed to warm readers' hearts.

Brenda Malloy wants nothing to do with Christmas ever again. Last year, Brenda and her husband rushed their beloved dog Tim to the emergency vet on Christmas eve. The good news: Tim survived after the vet cleared the obstruction--a pair of women's lace undies. The bad news: the undies were not Brenda's.

A year after the breakup, Brenda has put her life back together. She's trained for a marathon, is writing a children's novel, and she's found purpose and healing as a volunteer with a dog rescue organization in Houston, Texas. The rescue partners with a program in Avalon, New York--a small, snowy town deep in the Catskills. Now Brenda is arranging the transport of rescued dogs from Houston to Avalon--just in time for a merry Christmas with their forever families. Brenda's friends worry about her driving a van two thousand miles with twelve dogs in crates, but she shrugs off their concern. How hard can it be? She knows the way, and she's just looking to escape the Christmas overload for a while.

But a blinding snowstorm, an escaped mutt, and a life-saving encounter with Adam Bellamy--a single dad and paramedic--means Brenda has to stay in Avalon longer than she planned. As she drops off each precious pup at their new homes, some of the comfort and joy of the season begins to creep up on Brenda despite her determination to avoid the holidays. Perhaps you can bring Christmas into your heart after all...if you have the right furry friends to guide the way.

A touching holiday read Perfect for fans of uplifting winter romancesA delightful Christmas gift
 

Image for "A Jingle Bell Mingle"

A Jingle Bell Mingle

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy and USA Today bestselling author Sierra Simone who gave us A Merry Little Meet Cute comes an extra spicy new holiday rom-com--'tis the season for second chances!

What happens when there's no room at the inn and you and your potentially demonic cat become roommates with your grumpy one-night stand?

Part-time adult film actress/one-time adult film director/makeup artist Sunny Palmer has accidentally sold her very first screenplay to the Hope Channel. That was six months ago. Fast forward to a looming deadline, an uninspired Sunny has returned to the source of her inspiration in Christmas Notch, Vermont, to immerse herself in the local Christmas miracle on which her fever dream of a movie pitch was based.

Isaac Kelly, former boy band heartthrob and the saddest boy in the music biz, is the latest owner of the town's historic mansion. After his years of heartbreak following his young wife's death, Isaac's record label is done waiting for new music. What better place to attempt his first holiday album than a snow-covered mansion where he can become a hermit in peace?

But after their best friends' wedding leads to them waking up together in a freezing motel room with questionable wiring and a broken shower, Isaac takes a chance and asks Sunny to stay with him at his home. Surely the place is big enough that he'll hardly see her or her unhinged cat. But when the two discover they're both creatively blocked, they make a handshake deal: Isaac will help Sunny hunt down the truth behind the local lore, and Sunny will find Isaac a new muse.

And with these two opposites under one roof, there's no way this jingle bell mingle could go off script...right?

Image for "Make the Season Bright"

Make the Season Bright

Two exes find themselves stuck at the same house for Christmas in this holiday romance by Ashley Herring Blake, USA Today bestselling author of Iris Kelly Doesn't Date.

It's been five years since Charlotte Donovan was ditched at the altar by her ex-fiancée, and she’s doing more than okay. Sure, her single mother never checks in, but she has her strings ensemble, the Rosalind Quartet, and her life in New York is a dream come true. As the holidays draw near, her ensemble mate Sloane persuades Charlotte and the rest of the quartet to spend Christmas with her family in Colorado—it is much cozier and quieter than Manhattan, and it would guarantee more practice time for the quartet’s upcoming tour. But when Charlotte arrives, she discovers that Sloane’s sister Adele also brought a friend home—and that friend is none other than her ex, Brighton.

All Brighton Fairbrook wanted was to have the holliest, jolliest Christmas—and try to forget that her band kicked her out. But instead, she’s stuck pretending like she and her ex are strangers—which proves to be difficult when Sloane and Adele’s mom signs them all up for a series of Christmas dating events. Charlotte and Brighton are soon entrenched in horseback riding and cookie decorating, but Charlotte still won’t talk to her. Brighton can hardly blame her after what she did.

After a few days, however, things start to slip through. Memories. Music. The way they used to play together—Brighton on guitar, Charlotte on her violin—and it all feels painfully familiar. But it’s all in the past and nothing can melt the ice in their hearts...right?

Image for "Snowy Mountain Christmas"

Snowy Mountain Christmas

"In early December on the way home from a research trip through Arkansas, mystery writer Trey Austin, anonymously writing as "Chapel Hill", is traveling on a dirt road, trying to get back to the main highway when he drives into a thunderstorm and wrecks, leaving him upside down and unconscious in a flooding ditch. Hailey Beaumont has been in the Arkansas hills coaxing a couple of old-time recipes from a local woman to add to her menu at her B&B, which is closed for three weeks due to renovations. She is on her way back to Colorado in the thunderstorm when an angel leads her down that same dirt road, right to Trey. Hailey rescues him from the flooding car, calls 911, and comforts him as he drifts in and out of consciousness while they wait for emergency services to arrive. Soaked and shaken to the core, she doesn't realize she's lost a shoe in the mud until the ambulance takes him away and she walks back in her car for her long drive home. Trey wakes up in the hospital with a concussion, but immediately asks the patrolman about the woman who found him. The patrolman holds up the bagged muddy little shoe and tells him she left before she gave anyone her name. Two nights later, Trey is released and all he can think about his his Cinderella. He posts the shoe and his story on social media, hoping that someone can help find her. Many women come forward, but none match his memory of the woman who saved him. Weeks pass when Hailey stumbles upon it and responds, inviting him to her B&B for Christmas. His instantly recognizes her and agrees. The delightful holiday is just the beginning of a fairytale romance together--one that ends with their own HEA"--

Close up view of a silver bell ornament

The Christmas Stranger

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Christmas classic The Christmas Box and the #1 Netflix movie The Noel Diary comes a powerful and thought-provoking holiday story about love, loss, and the mysterious workings of heaven.

Sometimes the universe sends us exactly who we need...

Three years after losing his family in a Christmas Eve accident, grief-stricken Paul Wanlass hasn’t just given up on Christmas, he’s given up on life. He can’t imagine anything to keep him here—not his work as a computer repairman, not the residents in his Salt Lake City neighborhood, and certainly not the idea of connecting with someone new. When a stranger knocks on his door, claiming to be picking up a laptop, Paul allows him in—but discovers the man has a very different mission in mind.

Paul wakes the next morning unsure if his encounter with the stranger really happened or was just a dream–but when the stranger shows up again, Paul challenges him to give him just one reason to live. The stranger agrees to the challenge but warns Paul not to expect a path he would have guessed or chosen.

As the stranger promised, Paul’s life takes a wild and fateful turn. A robbery connects him with a woman who has also lost the love of her life, and, in a seemingly unrelated incident, Paul rescues a young boy from bullying, only to find the boy needs a different kind of rescue. The twists leave Paul wondering what these people have in common, and why they were brought together. Who—or what—really is this Christmas stranger, and how will Paul find meaning once again?

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