Director’s Column

Director’s Column

October 2025

Just Treats 🍬

How is Halloween like a library? Let me tell you the haunting tale… 👻 First and foremost, this mysterious holiday is an amalgam of many traditions, beliefs, creative interests, and celebrations that go back hundreds of years from multiple parts of the world. The same can be said of how libraries have evolved over time and the writings strewn (but carefully organized!) across our shelves, and the myriad activities filling our calendar throughout the year. Not to mention the fact that the visual of books adorned with cobwebs just scream All Hallow’s Eve! 🕸️🕷️ This month we narrow in from the myriad to the macabre, and tap into those enchanting days with costumes, crafts, games, stories, celebrations inside the library and out, and of course – a book or two. Halloween is like a library, and this library really likes Halloween…

Look over your shoulder! And see what activities are lurking there:

Note: tickets are $2 cheaper in advance – that’s a scary good deal!

And at the very beginning of the month, the Palm Harbor Museum will host its monthly talk on Wednesday, October 1 at 6:30 p.m here at the Palm Harbor Library. In the spirit of the season, the session is titled Palm Harbor – History And Mystery. Bob Fortner – President of the the Palm Harbor Museum & Historical Society – will share historical facts and fiction as well as some tales that are a bit of both.

As a father, I am all too familiar with kids and their ever-changing preferences, especially when it comes to the dreaded process of finding the perfect Halloween costume. PHL has the solution! All month long, families can bring in their gently used costumes (for kids, tweens and teens) and participate in our Costume Swap. Or if they are not ready to give up last year’s getup, just bring in a $5 donation to our Youth Services team, and pick one out.

And while you are in the Children’s room, don’t forget to grab a Halloween book to read. Journeying to the Other Side of the building, you will find plenty of volumes for teens and adults to choose from as well. The year is going by fast, and the 31st will be here before we know it. Stop by and take in our decor, check out our titles, and live it up with us in our programs. How Halloween just like a library? Always expect the unexpected!

~Matthew

Matthew David, Palm Harbor Library Director

Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark
Clue
The Corpse Bride
Blood
September 2025

One Card, Endless Possibilities

September is National Library Card Sign-up Month, and the theme this year is “One Card, Endless Possibilities.” Imagining and connecting to what is possible is kind of a thrilling and daunting thought, because we are living in such a fascinating time. So many of us are searching for those ideal paths, navigating the world of intelligences: artificial, creative, emotional, historical, interpersonal, logical, spiritual – the list goes on and on! Libraries are excellent places to begin many of those paths by grabbing a book, taking in a performance, taking part in group activities, researching databases, or using us as a launch pad. As proud as I am of everything PHL has to offer here inside these walls, achieving that Possible does not happen in a vacuum. The next step is often elsewhere, and sometimes it leads toward one of our many fantastic community partners. So we want you to come here first – and then go away to the next best place – and then come back here for more. 🧭 Your library card can be the Possible, bolstering the paths available to you and yours…

One of those invaluable community partners is the Palm Harbor Museum and the Palm Harbor Historical Society (PHHS). PHHS was established back in 1983, just five years after the Palm Harbor Library, and we have been strong partners for many years. Recently, for the 100 Years of Palm Harbor celebration, the museum created postcards commemorating local historic sites, and those framed postcards can now be seen at PHL, as well as at the museum and at Palm Harbor Parks & Recreation. The museum also has a permanent display case at PHL with rotating exhibit items, and often does additional special exhibitions with us. And I am overjoyed to share that beginning in October, the Palm Harbor Museum will be included in the county wide Library Museum Pass Program. This is an excellent (and free!) way to experience more than a dozen area museums and historical sites. Please note: beginning 9/1/25, The Glazer Museum will no longer be available through this program.

Throughout the year, lectures and presentations organized by the Palm Harbor Museum can be enjoyed at the library on the first Wednesday of the month. On September 3 at 6:30 p.m., the session will feature fine artist, digital illustrator, and muralist Ketsy Ruiz, who serves as Marketing Associate for Pinellas County’s non-profit local arts agency, Creative Pinellas. And speaking of early-in-the-month events, there are a few spots left for the after-hours performance by Our Musical Chairs on Friday, September 5 at 6:00 p.m., sponsored by the Palm Harbor Friends of the Library.

Your library card can of course be used to check out books and a wide range of other items. After you have visited the museum or attended one of their talks at PHL, you may be inspired to check out a book on Palm Harbor. After you have attended Cameras & Coffee, you may be interested to check out one of our cameras. And don’t forget about our online resources! In addition to databases, streaming music and streaming movies, we have thousands of eBooks – and we have now increased the checkout limits for CloudLibrary eBooks and eAudiobooks.

I will risk the groans of this dad-joke like comment: with your library card, you Harbor the world in the Palm of your hand. 🌍 Seriously though folks – what is mentioned above is just the tip of the iceberg, and we are always venturing into new territory to discover ways of serving you all most effectively. There truly are endless possibilities!

~Matthew

Matthew David, Palm Harbor Library Director

Book Cover: Palm Harbor A people and Past Remembered - a palm tree with blue skies
Images of America- Around Palm Harbor with old image of school kids in front of a wooden school house
August 2025

Places of Enchantment

Perhaps it is a bit on the nose to mention “enchantment” less than 100 miles from Walt Disney World. 🐭 But even before the parks in California and Florida opened their gates, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings wrote in her seminal novel Cross Creek: “I do not understand how anyone can live without some small place of enchantment to turn to.” Do you agree? What is your place? Mine used to be Albuquerque, New Mexico – I went to high school there and I still miss the mountains and sunsets. As a matter of fact, New Mexico’s slogan is Land of Enchantment. But Rawlings’ descriptions of old Florida reminds me that enchantment reverberates all around us here too, in many places great and small… as large as a grove and as petite as a paragraph on the page of a library book. Join us in August as we celebrate MKR’s works throughout the month. PHL will always endeavor to be the place that everyone can turn to…

To  enjoy the writings and themes of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings works, consider attending one or more – or all! – of the following:

You can find many titles by and about MKR right here at PHL:

Rawlings work can also be found in eBook and eAudiobook format via our online library. You may already be familiar with Libby and Hoopla. But have you tried CloudLibrary? We provide many titles via CloudLibrary that are not available on the other eBook platforms. Start by downloading the mobile app onto your smart phone or tablet if you have one – or you can use the web browser on your computer. Then login with your library card number and pin. Be sure to check out the Featured lists when you are there for easy browsing.

As the summer winds down, it may give us pause to think of Florida’s expanses as majestic when we are battling the formidable heat and the ever present threat of severe storms. But of course we know there is beauty in the topography and human-made structures, old and new. Rawlings addresses this duality poignantly, just below her statement about enchantment: “Across the lake, visible the four miles only on a clear day, is the tower of the old Samson manse, decaying in the middle of the still prosperous orange grove. From the tower itself, decrepit and dangerous, is a sight of a tropical world of dreams, made up of glossy trees and shining water and palm islands.” Once again, books show us the way(s)!

~Matthew

Matthew David, Palm Harbor Library Director

Book Covers for 10 Marjorie Kinnan Rawling books.
July 2025

A July to Remember

How has your summer been so far? Are you like me and you are just now getting around to Spring Cleaning at home? Well, that second living room (your local public library) has a much easier to-do list for you to enjoy! Have you attended a library event yet this season? If not, stop by and pick up the summer guide with details for events through August. This month, on July 14 and 15, we will join the Palm Harbor Main Street Association and celebrate 100 Years of Palm Harbor with special events here at PHL and several other spots near and dear to local Palm Harbor life. And if you want to continue your history deep dive, check out the library’s digital edition of the New York Times, which goes all the way back to 1851 (not to mention free access to their additional features such as recipes and games). The movie Jaws recently celebrated 50 years 🦈 and you can watch it with us on July 3. Or perhaps you want to look into your own history and ancestry with the Suncoast Genealogy Society, also here for you at PHL. And the list goes on…

July marks month two of summer reading! Kids, teens and adults can still sign up for the reading initiative. PHL will be closed on July 4th for the Independence Day holiday, but when the last firework has lit up the night sky, why not curl up with a good book or film to honor the historic date? Kids can read about the Declaration of Independence. Teens can grab a biography of the declaration’s author. Adults can check out one of our many books on American history, or perhaps opt for one of our documentaries on DVD. And if you want to keep the celebration going, join us on July 28 for Pizza and a Movie – we will be screening the classic picture Yankee Doodle Dandy. 🇺🇲

A century ago – July 15, 1925 – our town of Sutherland was renamed Palm Harbor. Now the community is coming together to celebrate this milestone. On July 14, PHL will host Countdown to Palm Harbor at 5:00 p.m. The lineup of speakers is not to be missed, scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Adults may also raise a glass and toast the occasion with wine and cake, not to mention hors d’oeuvres and even coffee for those who crave an early evening boost. 🎉 The evening will be complete with an exhibition from Palm Harbor Museum, live music, and giveaways.

On July 15, PHL will host Palm Harbor Centennial Family Day at 3:00 p.m. This is a chance for the whole family to take part in the festivities with multiple activities, selfie-spots, and even a costume contest. Need costume ideas? Think 1920s, or even more specific to Palm Harbor: orange groves or post offices. Dress up as a citrus, or a postal worker, or a stamp… we can’t wait to see what you dream up! And it wouldn’t be a party without sweets and snacks. 🧁 For more area events honoring 100 years of Palm Harbor, visit the Palm Harbor Main Street Association website.

When it comes to the busy-ness of summer and the craziness of life, we are all in the same boat. Here at PHL we are delighted to live in that ocean of possibilities for recreation and respite you can traverse every summer. And given how immensely strong the rip current of resources and services can pull, there is simply no other way to say it: we’re gonna need a bigger boat! 🛥️

~Matthew

Matthew David, Palm Harbor Library Director

Book Cover - Thomas Jefferson: Architect of Freedom with a drawing of a man with gray hair and a fur jacket
Book Cover - Declaration of Independence with three men signing the document
Book Cover "The American Revolution" - silhouettes of revolutionary soldiers with a picture of George Washington
Movie Poster - Yankee Doodle Dandy a man with a patriotic top hat