The St. Joseph/ Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library is the proud recipient of a $10,000 Carnegie Grant in honor of America's 250th Anniversary!
Do you have memories of our original Carnegie library in St. Joseph? Share them at carnegielibraries.org.
#carnegiegrant #LibrariesAreForEveryone
Grab an umbrella & take a stroll through town as we kick-off our Inaugural Downtown Poetry Walk!
All April long, poems will be displayed in participating business windows and at the library in celebration of National Poetry Month.
Location & poem info is on our website: www.librarybythelake.org.
The struggle is real. High-five if you make it in this week.
A person dressed as a t-rex and another dressed as Dr. Alan Grant of Jurassic Park stand in a town window, frozen as mannequins.
A crowd strolls in front of a window of human Jurassic Park character mannequins.
A crowd stops to appreciate the human characters depicting a Jurassic Park scene, as mannequins.
Even with the rain, it was a great night for March Mannequins! Thanks to all who came out to support the movie scenes. Don't forget to vote for your favorite at stjoetoday.com/vote !
LIBRARY CLOSED- Friday, March 6th 2026
The lower level seepage/ flooding is getting fixed this Friday and we will be closed for the day.
Starting Thursday, the elevator will be unavailable for the duration of work.
Our exterior return bin will still be accessible for bringing back materials.
Get Ready
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one [that led to the Library], and that has made all the difference.
Based on the poem, “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost.
#librariesareforeveryone
Does "bad" weather get you excited? Join us on Monday, February 9th, when Meteorologist Joel Fritsma of @mistormchasers will geek out with us at 5pm; about Michigan Storm Chasers, storm chasing, and wild Michigan weather!
Open to ALL AGES; no registration.
Text-heavy infographic about confirmation bias and motivated reasoning, with boxes explaining different aspects of the cognitive biases. Boxes include: Confirmation bias is; motivated reasoning is; information habits, political polarization & conspiracy theories; Interesting studies; & “our best defenses.”
⚠️ In today's AI age, confirmation bias & motivated reasoning are dangerous cognitive biases. For instance:
👍🏽 See a video that you agree with? That must be legit.
🤔 See a video that you disagree with? That has to be AI!
🔗 Download the infographic: go.newslit.org/ConfBiasPoster
#NewsLiteracy
Shout out to Beaudoin Electrical Construction for getting out earlier than expected to connect the electricity!
Our Rotary Club grant-funded automatic bathroom doors are being installed today!
Special thanks Automatic Door Services, Inc. of Grand Rapids, MI for doing the install!
Please note they will not be fully operational until the electricity has been added sometime next week.
The '25-'26 Michigan Humanities Great Michigan Read title, "Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant," by Curtis Chin is here with Book Club Kits!
Each kit has 10 books and a discussion guide to get your book club talking.
Get your kit by visiting us at our main circulation desk.
While the weather is doing it's typical Michigan thing, we're here for you!
Get some work done, charge your devices, or just relax and read in our warm spaces.
#WinterWeather #LibrariesAreForEveryone
Due to inclement weather, the Library is closed today, Friday, January 23rd.
Stay safe & warm!
Even with the snow and wind, we're making great progress on our Community Reading Goal: 5,360 books!
Keep following as we post our updates each Friday- and watch for a BIG boost when we get our end-of-month numbers!
#communityreadinggoal #letsreadtogether📚 #LibrariesAreForEveryone
Have you heard?? Our bathrooms are getting a major upgrade with automatic doors!
Thanks to an amazing grant from @rotarysjbh The Rotary Club of St. Joseph- Benton Harbor, automatic doors will give our patrons a major boost in accessibility.
Stay tuned for details on when the work will begin.
Due to inclement weather, the St. Joseph/ Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library will be closed on Thursday, January 15th, 2026. All programming is cancelled.
Thank you for your understanding. Please stay safe and warm.
Due to worsening weather, the Library will be closing EARLY this evening at 6pm. ALL PROGRAMS ARE CANCELLED! Please stay safe and warm.
Chess Club has been cancelled for this afternoon, January 14th, due to weather. ALL OTHER PROGRAMS remain scheduled at this time. Please stay tuned for any additional updates.
New Year, New You! Strengthen key educational areas with the "Adult Core Skills" learning center from the Michigan eLibrary!
Are you ready for the Community Reading Challenge???
In January & February, every physical book, e-book, and audiobook counts! Let's see if we can reach 25,000 books read by March 1st!
Check back each Friday to see our progress and cheer each other on!
Ornaments containing the numbers 2026 hang against a dark blue background with gold confetti, captioned "Closed for the New Year! See you January 2nd!" with the logo of the St. Joseph/ Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library.
We are CLOSED for the New Year! See you again Friday, January 2nd, when we re-open at 10am.
Libby & Hoopla are available 24/7, and materials can still be returned to our exterior bin along the east parking alley.
Happy 2026!
#HappyNewYear #LibrariesAreForEveryone
UPDATED NOTICE: Due to inclement weather, as well as phone and internet outages, the Library is closed for Monday, December 29th, 2025. This includes all planned Library programs for the day: Bridge Club.
Please stay safe & warm!
NOTICE: Due to weather conditions around the library today, December 29th, we are delaying opening until 12pm.
Please stay tuned for any additional weather-related updates.
We'll be closing at 6pm Tuesday (Dec. 23rd), and closed all day Wednesday & Thursday for the holiday.
Don't forget to keep reading and listening with our Libby & Hoopla digital resources!
The St. Joseph/ Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library is now accepting submissions for original works of poetry for our inaugural Downtown Poetry Walk- themed "Transitions."
See our website for details: www.librarybythelake.org
We have Educate Station!
Available at your library, find free learning plans w/ a range of extension activities across subjects & grades- perfect for homeschoolers & parents/ students looking for an additional educational resource. Use the link: educatestation.com/access/maud-... to get started!
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a person in Michigan Winter is in want of a good book club.
Find one to join at your Library. (We have 4!)
#austen250 #LibrariesAreForEveryone
Check out the ✨NEW✨"Read Michigan" resource from the MeL.org: Michigan eLibrary !
As tax season approaches, remember: The #IRS doesn’t initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text message or through social media to request personal or financial information.
Learn how to protect your financial and tax information by visiting:
www.irs.gov/scams
