850-522-2100

850-233-5055

850-871-3092

Port St. Joe

850-229-8879

Wewahitchka

850-639-2419

Bristol

850-643-2247

Hosford

850-379-3300

by Julia Sweig

In the spring of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson had a decision to make. Just months after moving into the White House under the worst of circumstances--following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy--he had to decide whether to run to win the presidency in his own right. He turned to his most reliable, trusted political strategist: his wife, Lady Bird Johnson. The strategy memo she produced for him, emblematic of her own political acumen and largely overlooked by biographers, is just one revealing example of how their marriage was truly a decades-long political partnership.

by Milinda Jay

Milinda Jay's new release, Annie Laura's Gift, is based on a true story of Annie Laura Brock (Jay's great-grandmother), an immigrant in the rural South in the late 1880s who fights for her dream for a home in America. Despite prejudice at the hands of powerful townspeople, and the loss of both her parents, Annie Laura perseveres. With the help of her friend, Morris, she carves a farm from the stubborn Florida piney woods. But darkness descends when Morris is forced from town. Small-town culture is not kind when Annie Laura, the victim of rape, brings an illegitimate child into the world.

by Kazuo Ishiguro

Klara and the Sun, the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, tells the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her.

by Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock

From the do-or-die early days of self-financed recordings and D.I.Y. concert productions to the multi-Platinum, MTV-powered glory years of chart-topping power ballads, to the ultimate crash when grunge bands like Nirvana forever altered the entire climate of the business, Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock's Nothin' But a Good Time captures the energy and excess of the hair metal years in the words of those in the industry who lived it.

by Sarah Penner

Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary's fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.

by Chris Whitaker

Walk has never left the coastal California town where he grew up. He may have become the chief of police, but he's still trying to heal the old wound of having given the testimony that sent his best friend, Vincent King, to prison. Now, thirty years later, Vincent is being released. Duchess is a thirteen-year-old self-proclaimed outlaw. Her mother, Star, grew up with Walk and Vincent. Walk is in overdrive trying to protect them. When trouble arrives with Vincent King, Walk and Duchess find they will be unable to do anything but usher it in, arms wide closed.

by Don Lemon

The host of CNN Tonight with Don Lemon is more popular than ever. As America's only Black prime-time anchor, Lemon and his daily monologues on racism and antiracism, on the failures of the Trump administration and of so many of our leaders, and on America's systemic flaws speak for his millions of fans. Now, in an urgent, deeply personal, riveting plea, he shows us all how deep our problems lie, and what we can do to begin to fix them.

by Walter Isaacson

Jennifer Doudna and her collaborators turned ​a curiosity ​of nature into an invention that will transform the human race: an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA. Known as CRISPR, it opened a brave new world of medical miracles and moral questions. The development of CRISPR and the race to create vaccines for coronavirus will hasten our transition to the next great innovation revolution. Children who study digital coding will be joined by those who study genetic code. Doudna became a leader in wrestling with these moral issues and, with her collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier, won the Nobel Prize in 2020. Her story is a thrilling detective tale that involves the most profound wonders of nature, from the origins of life to the future of our species.

by Sister Souljah

A sequel to The Coldest Winter Ever continues the gritty experiences of Winter Santiaga, out of prison and determined to pay back her enemies, rebuild her father's empire, and get her man Midnight back into her life.

by Harlan Coben

Over twenty years ago, the heiress Patricia Lockwood was abducted, then locked inside an isolated cabin for months. Patricia escaped, but so did her captors -- and the items stolen from her family were never recovered. On the Upper West Side, a recluse is found murdered in his penthouse apartment, alongside two objects of note: a stolen Vermeer painting and a leather suitcase bearing the initials WHL3. For the first time in years, the authorities have a lead.

C.J. Box

Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett must accompany a Silicon Valley CEO on a hunting trip, but soon learns that he himself may be the hunted. When the governor of Wyoming gives Joe Pickett the thankless task of taking a tech baron on an elk hunting trip, Joe reluctantly treks into the wilderness with his high-profile charge. But as they venture into the woods, a man-hunter is hot on their heels, driven by a desire for revenge. Finding himself without a weapon, a horse, or a way to communicate, Joe must rely on his knowledge of the outdoors to protect himself and his companion. Meanwhile, Joe's closest friend, Nate Romanowski, and his own daughter Sheridan learn of the threat to Joe's life and follow him into the woods. In a stunning final showdown, the three of them come up against the worst that nature and man have to offer.

For the most up-to-date information on Northwest Regional Library System location hours and services, visit the NWRLS Library Website.

In response to COVID-19, all locations are maintaining Grab and Go Guidelines. Returned items will be quarantined for a minimum of 24 hours. We encourage all patrons to wear a mask and maintain social distancing at 6 feet while inside the library. Please do not enter the library if you are sick! All children under the age of twelve must be accompanied by an adult. Computer time is limited to 1-hour per person, per day. Meeting and Study Rooms will be closed until further notice.

Celebrate National Library Week (April 4th - 10th) this year by checking out something fun from the library. The Northwest Regional Library System has books, DVDs, eBooks and audiobooks, ukuleles, mountain dulcimers, telescopes, and Playaway Launchpads to check out. AND you can borrow up to 20 physical items, 5 eBooks/audiobooks and endless digital magazines at a time with your library card for FREE!

BCPL Unstacked Podcast (episode linked here) with award-winning author Rebecca Bruff on her historical fiction, Trouble the Water (2019) about Robert Smalls who was born enslaved, worked on a cotton steamer that turned into a confederate warship during the Civil War, and his heroic escape to freedom with his crew mates and their families. Unwind with Rebecca as she shares more about Robert Small's life including his congressional work post-war, her writing process, Beaufort SC, love of libraries, and more. For more information about Rebecca, visit her website: https://www.rebeccabruff.com/.

Tuesday, April 27th at 2:00 PM Central Time

Pre-Register in advance for this Zoom meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZErcOGrrD0rE9HvkEhP7Xn9lL0C0HrQEHiv You'll receive a reminder email the day prior to the program. The program will be recorded.

Join us for a Virtual Book Club with author Milinda Jay! Zoom registration is required. This will be in meeting format so you'll be able to ask questions directly to the author!

Milinda Jay's new release, Annie Laura's Gift, is based on a true story of Annie Laura Brock (Jay's great-grandmother), an immigrant in the rural South in the late 1880s who fights for her dream for a home in America. Despite prejudice at the hands of powerful townspeople, and the loss of both her parents, Annie Laura perseveres. With the help of her friend, Morris, she carves a farm from the stubborn Florida piney woods. But darkness descends when Morris is forced from town. Small-town culture is not kind when Annie Laura, the victim of rape, brings an illegitimate child into the world. Learn more about the author at www.milindajay.com.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. The library has several copies in the collection for check out. To order direct from Mercer University Press, you can receive 20% off and free USPS Media Mail discount with the coupon code: MUPNEWS www.mupress.org/Annie-Lauras-Gift-P1138.aspx# or call 866-895-1472 (toll free).

Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize winning author.

Ready, set, grow! Gulf County is opening its first Seed Library, thanks to the successful collaboration of the Friends of the Library, the Port St. Joe Garden Club, and the UF/IFAS Gulf County Extension Office. Generous support was provided by the Port St. Joe Garden Club with a grant from the Tapper Foundation. Additional seeds were supplied by the Herman’s Garden Seed Donation Program of the SeedSavers Exchange, a non-profit dedicated to preserving and sharing heirloom seeds. Just as libraries enrich the community by providing a way to share books and ideas, seed libraries enrich the community by allowing gardeners to share seeds and knowledge about what grows well in Gulf County.

Twenty varieties of vegetable, herb and flower seeds will be available at the Corinne Costin Gibson Memorial Public Library beginning April 5, with plans to open a Seed Library at the Charles Whitehead Public Library in Wewahitchka in time for the fall planting season. Gardeners are invited to share seeds from their home gardens as well. Anyone with a library card will be able to choose up to five seed packets each month at no cost. Easy-to-grow varieties are specially marked for novice gardeners and children. The Master Gardeners have provided information sheets for each variety of seed, with instructions on propagation. The libraries also have many gardening books available for check-out. For more information, call the library at 850-229-8879.

Tuesday, April 13th at 10 a.m. CST / 11 a.m. EST Dr. Seuss Storytime

Tania from the Bay County Public Library presents stories and songs that teach animals and the letters of the alphabet!

Thursday, April 1st at 10 a.m. CST / 11 a.m. EST Letter X

Thursday, April 8th at 10 a.m. CST / 11 a.m. EST Letter Y

Thursday, April 15th at 10 a.m. CST / 11 a.m. EST Letter Z

Thursday, April 22nd at 10 a.m. CST / 11 a.m. EST Earth Day

Thursday, April 29th at 10 a.m. CST / 11 a.m. EST Could be Worse

Thursday, April 8th at 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST

Join us for our Raffi Spotlight and Sing-Along! We’ll learn a bit about the musician and his impact while also learning to pick up a ukulele and play a few of his signature songs.

Thursday, April 22nd at 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST

It’s time to flex your knowledge and workout some serious science! Learn about the different types of muscles and the importance of muscles in our body. Also, learn why exercise is so good for having big, strong muscles. Ready to feel the burn?

Make and Take crafts are available at the Bay County Public Library, Panama City Beach Public Library, Charles Whitehead Public Library in Wewahitchka, Corinne Costin Gibson Memorial Public Library in Port St. Joe, Harrell Memorial Public Library in Bristol, and Jimmy Weaver Memorial Library in Hosford. Contact your library to find out more. Thank you to the PCB Library Foundation and Friends of the Gulf County Libraries for sponsoring your library.

April will have a new set of reading challenges geared for children. Each child will receive a goody bag and free books depending on the amount of books they read from the list!

Wednesday, March 31st @ 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST

Learn how to hard boil eggs and cool ways to decorate them for Easter!

Wednesday, April 14th @ 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST

Learn how to fold an origami cherry blossom flower, and a tulip with stem.

Wednesday, April 21st at 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST

Learn how to make dessert sushi and about the Japanese practice of hanami, or cherry blossom viewing.

Wednesday, April 7th @ 10:30 a.m. CST / 11:30 EST

Book: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

Zoom registration required. Email asmith@nwrls.com for Zoom invitation.

Thursday, April 8th @ 11:30 a.m. CST / 12:30 p.m. EST

Book: Notorious RBG by Irin Cameron and Shana Sknizhnik

Zoom registration required. Email rfillingame@nwrls.com for Zoom Invitation.

Wednesdays, April 14th and 28th @ 11:00 a.m. CST / 12:00 p.m. EST

Talk about what you are reading! Zoom registration required. Email hogilvie@nwrls.com for Zoom invitation.

Mondays @ 10 a.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. EST

Heather, BCPL Outreach Librarian, shares reading trends and Buzz-worthy books!

Tuesday, April 6th @ 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST

Did you know you can access Universal Class courses with your library card? Find out more with today's Tech Tips!

Wednesday, April 7th @ 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST

In celebration of National Poetry Month, BCPL Reference Librarians will share their favorite poems!

Tuesday, April 13th @ 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST

Learn about architect, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 - 1959) and his unique impact on American architecture. His work pulls inspiration from the Arts and Crafts movement seen in his Prairie houses and then shifting to his more notable Organic Architecture seeking harmony between architecture and the natural environment.

Register in advance for this Zoom webinar:

Friday, April 16th @ 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST

Zoom Registration Required. Email sburris@nwrls.com for the Zoom invitation and the mountain dulcimer music.

Tuesday, April 20th @ 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST

Program presented by Audubon Rooftop Nesting Biologist, Rebekah Snyder. Register in advance for this Zoom webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_TbtFBklXQm-UScRBCjmN0w

Recycled Book Club: Book Page Planter

Tuesday, April 27th @ 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST

Rachael from the Bay County Public Library shares how to create a planter out of recycled book pages.

Tuesday, April 27th @ 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST

Virtual book club with local author, Milinda Jay. We will be

reading her new historical fiction novel, Annie Laura's Gift,

based on her great-grandmother. This program will be recorded. If you order from Mercer University Press, receive 20% off with the discount code: MUPNEWS. Register in advance for this Zoom meeting:

Wednesday, April 28th @ 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST

Join Laura as she creates a beach themed tier tray. She will give helpful tips for you to put together your own tiered tray!

Career Online High School (COHS) scholarships are currently available through the Northwest Regional Library System. COHS offers adults the opportunity to earn an accredited high school diploma and a career certificate online. Applicants who successfully complete the online self-assessment, the prerequisite course and an in-person interview will be considered for enrollment.

To be considered, candidate must:

• be 19 years of age or older

• Resident of Bay, Gulf, or Liberty County

• Have a library card in good standing or apply for a library card

• Have completed at least one year of high school

Visit https://www.nwrls.com/online-high-school/ to find out more and begin the online self-assessment. If you have questions, call the Bay County Public Library at 850-522-2100 during open library hours.

by Jessica Bruder

The inspiration for Chloé Zhao's Golden Globe award-winning film starring Frances McDormand. From the beet fields of North Dakota to the National Forest campgrounds of California to Amazon's CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labor pool, made up largely of transient older Americans. Finding that social security comes up short, often underwater on mortgages, these invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in late-model RVs, travel trailers, and vans, forming a growing community of nomads.

by Jennifer Ryan

Two years into World War II, Britain is feeling her losses; the Nazis have won battles, the Blitz has destroyed cities, and U-boats have cut off the supply of food. In an effort to help housewives with food rationing, a BBC radio program called The Kitchen Front is putting on a cooking contest—and the grand prize is a job as the program's first-ever female co-host. For four very different women, winning the contest presents a crucial chance to change their lives.

by Viet Thanh Nguyen

The long-awaited follow-up to the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Sympathizer, which has sold more than one million copies worldwide, The Committed follows the man of two minds as he arrives in Paris in the early 1980s with his blood brother Bon. The pair try to overcome their pasts and ensure their futures by engaging in capitalism in one of its purest forms: drug dealing. Traumatized by his reeducation at the hands of his former best friend, Man, and struggling to assimilate into French culture, the Sympathizer finds Paris both seductive and disturbing. As he falls in with a group of left-wing intellectuals whom he meets at dinner parties given by his French Vietnamese "aunt," he finds stimulation for his mind but also customers for his narcotic merchandise. But the new life he is making has perils he has not foreseen, whether the self-torture of addiction, the authoritarianism of a state locked in a colonial mindset, or the seeming paradox of how to reunite his two closest friends whose worldviews put them in absolute opposition. The Sympathizer will need all his wits, resourcefulness, and moral flexibility if he is to prevail.

With the Libby by Overdrive app, you can check out five e-books and downloadable audiobooks for free for 21 days. All you need is your library card number and PIN. Forgot your PIN? Just give us a call at 850-522-2100 and we'll set one up for you. And you can return items early!

To access e-books and downloadable audiobooks, click here or:

Go to www.nwrls.com

Click on Books & Research

Click on eBooks & eAudiobooks

Click on OverDrive and Libby to find eBooks, audiobooks and magazines

Download the Libby App to your device.

Sign in by selecting Panhandle Library Access Network.

Select Northwest Regional Library System as your library,

and login with library card number and PIN.