Celebrate with us!

This September marks the 65th Anniversary of Collier County Public Library. From as early as the 1930s the Women’s Club of Naples had a “book room” that was open to the public. But in early 1957 the Friends of the Library organization generated interest in crafting a public library for the community.

In September of 1957 the Board of County Commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of creating the Collier County Free Public Library, and the first incarnation was located at the corner of Third Street South and Broad Avenue. Over the years, we have expanded to three regional libraries and seven branches all across Collier County.

As we celebrate 65 years of our Library, keep in touch to see what events we have in store. We can give you a sneak peek: our Anniversary Gala will be held in November!

Visit CollierLibrary.org to see our events are being held near you.

September is Library Card Sign-Up Month, a national campaign to emphasize the importance of library cards to a child’s education and to combat illiteracy. The campaign first started in 1987 as a response to then Secretary of Education, William Bennett, who stated: “Let’s have a campaign … Every child should obtain a library card and use it." October 14 was the kick off celebration for the campaign, held on the Mall in Washington, D.C., with 500 children in attendance.

The following year, September was declared Library Card Sign-Up Month. Since then, thousands of public libraries and schools have participated every fall, stressing the importance of obtaining a library card as a child’s most important school supply.

So be part of the campaign and come into the library and sign up for a library card and sign up you little ones for a library card too! Watch us on Facebook this month to learn 65 ways you can use your library card in honor of the Collier County Library’s 65th Birthday.

Read for the Record
Thursday, October 27!

Celebrate with children around the world and join us for a special reading of the book Nigel and the Moon by Antwan Eady. Enjoy a science-based edible craft using Oreo cookies to demonstrate the phases of the moon. See our website for participating library branches and times.  

NEWS ALERT:
Drop-In Family Story Time at Vanderbilt Beach Branch Library moving from Wednesdays to Thursdays!

Miss Jennifer is excited to begin her first story time session at the Vanderbilt Beach Branch Library on Thursday, September 1st at 10:30 a.m. No registration is required. Visit the Events page for details on this story time, plus additional story times and programs scheduled at other library locations.

Partnership HighLight

You may have seen a bunny, hamster, or other "pocket pet" up for adoption at your local branch in years gone by. But have you noticed any cats roaming Headquarters Public Library recently? Well, your eyes are not mistaken. Collier County Public Library has again partnered with DAS (Domestic Animal Services) to help find these cat’s a forever home.

You can stop by Headquarters Public Library anytime during business hours to say hello, or ask for more information on adoption. If you’re looking for a new companion, or just happen to love cats- feel free to swing on by and show these felines some love. Who knows, you could walk out of the library with books in one hand and a cat in the other!
For more information call Headquarters Public Library at: 239-252-7350 or visit our website at www.collierlibrary.org

Book Discussion @ CCPL

Virtual Book Discussions
CCPL Virtual Book Club – "Firekeeper's Daughter”
by Angeline Boulley
Zoom Discussion, Tuesday, September 27 at 2pm
Email [email protected] to receive an invite.

There will be a preview of the book in a Facebook Live discussion on Tuesday, September 20 at 2pm!

In-Person Discussions
Mystery Book Club - Monday, September 12, 2pm
Naples Regional Library

"Violeta" by Isabel Allende - Thursday, September 29, 2,pm
Golden Gate Library

Find us at collierlibrary.org/events to check for more events and sign up online to get back to talking about books!

COLLECTION CORNER:
National Hispanic Heritage Month
September 15 to October 15

Daughter of Fortune by Isabelle Allende
Raised in the British colony of Valparaiso, Chile, after being abandoned as a baby, a pregnant Eliza follows her lover, Joaquin Andieta, to California at the height of the Gold Rush and finds adventure and adversity on her road to independence and love.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez
From the author of One Hundred Years of Solitude comes the gripping story of the murder of a young aristocrat that puts an entire society—not just a pair of murderers—on trial.

The Hacienda by Isabel Canas
In the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence and the execution of her father, Beatriz accepts Don Rodolfo Solórzano’s proposal of marriage and is whisked away to his remote country estate where she is faced with a malevolent presence linked to his first wife’s death.

Hades, Argentina by Daniel Loedel
In 1976, Tomás Orilla is a medical student in Buenos Aires, where he has moved in hopes of reuniting with Isabel, a childhood crush. Tomás has always been willing to follow her anywhere, to do anything to prove himself. Yet what exactly is he proving, and at what cost to them both?

Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
During her family's annual car trip from, Lala Reyes listens to stories about her grandmother, the descendant of a renowned dynasty of shawl makers, whose magnificent striped (or caramelo) shawl has come into Lala's possession, in a multi-generational saga of a Mexican-American family.

Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
A novel set against the violence of 1990s Columbia follows a sheltered girl and a teen maid, who forge an unlikely friendship as the families of both struggle to maintain stability amidst Bogotá's rapidly escalating violence.

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez
In the 1960s, political tension forces the García family away from Santo Domingo and towards the Bronx. The sisters all hit their strides in America, adapting and thriving despite cultural differences, language barriers, and prejudice. Making matters worse, the girls find ways to rebel against them.

Big Chicas Don’t Cry by Annette Chavez Macias
Four adult cousins--Mari, Erica, Selena, and Gracie--reunite when their abuelita dies and must help each other navigate love, loss, and the meaning of family despite fifteen years of separation.

The Spanish Daughter by Lorena Hughes
Inheriting a cocoa plantation in Vinces, Ecuador, that someone will kill for, Puri, after her husband is murdered, assumes his identity to search for the truth of her father’s legacy and learn the identity of the enemy who stands in her way of claiming her birthright.

Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
A dazzling epic of betrayal, love, and fate that spans five generations of an Indigenous Chicano family in the American West, from the author of the National Book Award finalist Sabrina & Corina.

Queen of America: A Novel by Luis Alberto Urrea
Young Teresita Urrea, beloved healer and "Saint of Cabora," is besieged by pilgrims in desperate need of her healing powers, and pursued by assassins, she has no choice but to flee and embark on an extraordinary journey into the heart of America. Her passage will take her to New York, San Francisco, and St. Louis, where she will encounter a man who will force Teresita to finally ask herself the ultimate question: is a saint allowed to fall in love?

Velvet was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
In 1970s Mexico City, Maite, a secretary with a penchant for romance novels, searches for her missing neighbor, Leonora, a beautiful art student, which leads her to an eccentric gangster who longs to escape his own life, and together, they set out to discover the dangerous truth.

Sabrina & Corina: Stories by Kali Fajardo-anstine
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • Latinas of Indigenous descent living in the American West take center stage in this haunting debut story collection—a powerful meditation on friendship, mothers and daughters, and the deep-rooted truths of our homelands.

Everyone Knows You Go Home by Natalia Sylvester
The first time Isabel meets her father-in-law, Omar, he’s already dead—an apparition appearing uninvited on her wedding day. Her husband, Martin, still unforgiving for having been abandoned by his father years ago. So Omar asks Isabel for the impossible: persuade Omar’s family to let him redeem himself.

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Cordova
Seven years after their matriarch Orquidea passed away, blessing them with her special gifts, the Montoya family journeys to Ecuador to uncover the truth behind their inheritance to stop a hidden figure from killing off Orquidea’s line one-by-one.