Friends of the Galena Public Library

Friends of the Galena Public Library Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Friends of the Galena Public Library, Library, 601 Bench Street, Galena, IL.

06/17/2026

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Guess what happens one month from today! The annual Friends of the Galena Library book and bake sale opens to the general public. We have over 3,000 books as well as puzzles for your browsing and buying pleasure. This year the bake sale will also be expanded. Some more new things will be announced over the next couple weeks.

Here are the details:

Location is the Irish Cottage Inn and Suites

Hours

Wednesday 7/15 4-7 PM just for Friends of the Library. You can join that night.

Thursday and Friday 7/16 and 7/17 from 9 AM to 6 PM

Saturday 7/18. 9 AM to 1 PM

See you all soon!

06/06/2026

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Many, many thanks to all of you who have donated books or puzzles to the Friends of the Galena Library for our annual book sale. We have a great collection of books that we are now preparing to be ready for the sale in July.

Dates: Wednesday, July 15 for Friends of the Library. You can join on Wednesday at the sale if you are not yet a member.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July 16-18.

Once again we will be holding the sale at the Irish Cottage Inn and Suites.

Since we have now moved to the sale preparation phase of our book sale project, we are no longer accepting donations. Please respect our request to no longer leave books or puzzles at the library.

See you in July!!

05/31/2026

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Book Challenge Book for May: Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

This book was recommended to me

by Diane Morini, who has recommended excellent books to me over the years, yet I have to say I was very reluctant to read this book, mostly because it has received so many positive reviews and hype that I thought it couldn’t possibly be *that* good. I was afraid of high expectations being dashed.

I was so wrong. I loved this book, and while I am usually a fast reader, I read this book slowly, savoring each chapter and each new relationship as they developed.

Theo is an 80+ year old man who comes to the town of Golden, a relatively small town in Georgia. He tells people that he will probably stay for the year as he has business to attend to there. But he does not share his last name or anything about his past. Instead he spends his time getting to know the people he meets, no matter their age, profession or status. The thing that I liked so much about the book is that Theo is the kind of person who can find good in everyone he meets, and helps them to feel good about themselves as their relationship develops.

During these challenging times, Theo of Golden has a lot for us all to learn about keeping in mind that we are all human beings that have something to contribute to the world, and that we are all better for connecting with our fellow beings.

I give this book 5 ⭐️, highly recommending it.

📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚Readers- 10 days remaining for you to donate your gently used books and puzzles to the Friends of the Galen...
05/23/2026

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Readers-

10 days remaining for you to donate your gently used books and puzzles to the Friends of the Galena Library for our annual book sale.

We will not be accepting any more donations after Monday, June 1.

Books can be put in the collection box inside the back door of the library. The Friends volunteers will make them ready for our annual book sale which will be held at the Irish Cottage on July 16-18, with the Friends shopping night on Wednesday, July 15.

We *cannot* accept the following:

- Activity books (coloring books/puzzle books, etc)

- Self-help books

- Encyclopedias, reference books, textbooks, thesaurus’

- Magazines (including cooking magazines)

- Records, CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes

- Readers Digest condensed books

- Religious or theology books , Bibles

- Travel books (prior to 2022)

Proceeds from the book sale are used toward subscriptions to BookPage, Flipster Digital Magazine, Ancestry.com and Axis 360; also adult and children’s special programs, large print books, Playaway audio books, LitFest and the Galena Little Free Libraries.

Just a reminder that the books/puzzles must be in good shape. Ask yourself “would I purchase this book based on its condition?”. Thank you!

05/18/2026

This week is Little Free Library Week. The Friends of the Galena Library are stewards of 4 LFLs in Galena:
Depot Park
Rec Park
Outside of the library
Corner of Bench and Hill St.

It is our joy to keep them filled with books that you and your families will enjoy reading. And this summer the current ones will be replaced with 4 brand new larger versions complete with custom artwork decorating them.

📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚Tik, tik, tik, tik. Only 4 weeks left to donate your gently used books and puzzles *in good condition* so ...
05/01/2026

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Tik, tik, tik, tik.

Only 4 weeks left to donate your gently used books and puzzles *in good condition* so we can sell them at our annual Pre-Read Book Sale, which raises money for special programs for the Galena Public Library. Some of the programs we help support are: LitFest, large print books, electronic books, audio books (playaways), summer reading programs, among other things.

Books and puzzles can be put in the collection box inside the back door of the library. The Friends volunteers will make them ready for our annual book sale which will be held at the Irish Cottage on July 16-18, with the Friends shopping night on Wednesday, July 15.

We will not accept the following:

- Activity books (coloring books/puzzle books, etc)

- Self-help books

- Encyclopedias, reference books, textbooks

- Magazines (including cooking magazines)

- Records, CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes

- Readers Digest condensed books

- Religious or theology books , Bibles

- Travel books (prior to 2022)

-“fund raising” cookbooks- those spiral bound cookbooks that organizations compile and sell to raise money for their group.

Thanks in advance for supporting this great cause.

And one more reminder: books and puzzles should be in good condition. If they smell of mold, damp or must, they are not in good condition. If there are bugs in the book, they are not in good condition.

The book sale is only 2 1/2 months away, and while we have received high quality donations already, we can always use more in order to make the book sale the best it can be. We appreciate your support.

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📚📚📚📚📚📚📚Book Challenge for April: The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan KamaliAbout a year ago, I started reading this book ...
04/28/2026

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Book Challenge for April:
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

About a year ago, I started reading this book as I had read another book by the author that I had liked a great deal. But it must have been a question of wrong book/wrong time as I read only about 10% of it and decided it was not the book for me.

Now it’s 2026, and my good friend Lynne Lupu Orens recommended this book for this year’s book challenge. I told her about my previous experience with the book, and she said “try again”. Then another friend recommended it, so I decided to give it a go. I’m so glad I did

Set in Tehran and NYC, the book tells the story of Ellie and Homa and their complicated but lifelong friendship. Set through 3 generations of life in Tehran, the book accurately depicts the lives of Iranians through various regimes, which added so much to the story given our ongoing conflict with Iran.

The author eloquently depicts life in Tehran and how the citizens cope with their imposed lifestyles, especially the women. And when Ellie’s husband gets a prestigious job in an American university, we see the life of immigrants, especially those from a culture so different from ours.

I loved the mixture of the human stories along with the political insights woven throughout. A highly recommended book!

Opportunity for ArtistsThe Friends of the Galena Public Library have other projects in addition to our annual book sale....
04/21/2026

Opportunity for Artists

The Friends of the Galena Public Library have other projects in addition to our annual book sale. One that serves both the Galena community as well as visitors to our city. That project is the four Little Free Libraries that we serve as caretakers for. They are located at:

Recreation Park
Depot Park
Corner of Hill St and Bench St.
Rear entrance to the library.

We have been fortunate that a volunteer has made 4 brand new libraries to replace the aging ones that are currently in place. However, they still need to be painted. In the past we have just used plain colors. However, we have decided that we would like the libraries to be more artistically interesting. And that’s where we want to enlist the help of the artists in the community.

If you are age 16 or older we’d love your ideas and skills to beautify the new Little Free Libraries. Here are the details:

If you are interested in designing and painting one of the libraries, please submit your name and your design idea and the library that you would like to paint to the Friends of the Library by May 5. Some ideas that we have discussed are (1) a bicentennial/Galena history theme; or (2) a design based on the location of the library. For example, a train theme for depot park, a book theme for the library, etc. Of course, we’ll want to see an example of your work.

The Friends of the Library will supply the necessary materials, you’ll receive a financial honorarium of $50, and we’ll put a small plaque on the library crediting you as the designer and painter.

Pictures here are: (1) the unpainted libraries that are ready to go. You would be painting 2 sides, a small section on the front and the back. (2) A couple pictures of other little free libraries that we saw online that you can use as idea-starters.

You can email questions and/or indications of interest to Betsy Hansen, [email protected]. Also, please take pictures of some of your recent work and attached to your “I’m interested” email. Again, the deadline for indicating your interest is May 5.

Thank you for your interest in our project. We look forward to hearing from you.

04/20/2026

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This week (April 19-25) is National Library Week. Let’s all thank the extraordinary librarians, library assistants and volunteers who make The Galena Public Library such a special place.

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A couple of weeks ago, I took a book out of my virtual pile of books waiting to be read. The book was Buckeye by Patri...
04/11/2026

A couple of weeks ago, I took a book out of my virtual pile of books waiting to be read. The book was Buckeye by Patrick Ryan, and right from the beginning, the book captivated me. Having read many good comments about the book, I expected to like it, but you never know..
The book tells the story of ordinary people - the Salt family and the Jenkins family- who live in a small town in Ohio. The six main characters- Cal, Becky, Felix, Margaret, Skip and Tom- live their ordinary/extraordinary lives intertwined with each other. They have the usual human experiences, some wonderful, and some heartbreaking, but they continue to live their lives.
The author has drawn each character and their experiences in such a way that you feel that you know them well. Their day to day lives are so real that you feel you are experiencing them along with the characters- and you cheer for them and cry with them.
For me this is a 5⭐️book, I highly recommend it.

Address

601 Bench Street
Galena, IL
61036

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