The Douglas Way is the Simon Fairfield Public Library’s monthly email newsletter. It highlights upcoming events, clubs, and improvements to services. Never miss out on what is going on at the Library!
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January 2026
Director’s Letter
2025 is officially behind us! We circulated 260 books by Mo Willems, 252 by Freida McFadden, 190 by James Patterson, 181 by Dav Pilkey, and 137 by Jan Brett. Kristin Hannah, Nora Roberts, and Dr. Seuss tied at 132 loans each.
Our most highly borrowed items were laptops (474), mobile hotspots (100), The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey (63), A True Home by Kallie George (47), Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi (45), None of this is True by Lisa Jewell (43), and Country Living Magazine (39).
Books (at 27,718 loans) still beat out digital (23,489 loans), and we also loaned 4,738 videos, 335 audio discs, and 550 magazines.
We counted 24,307 patron visits, distributed 4,525 freebies (tea, brain bundles, and crafts), and provided 1,980 wireless sessions. We hosted 269 programs with a total attendance of 3,560.
We pulled off Eephus at Soldiers’ Field, helped with Museum on Main Street, elected a Bald Eagle mayor, made our first staff scarecrow, refinished 1/3 of the basement, launched the Douglas Mill, and redesigned our website. The Friends of the Library’s efforts advanced our building renovation funds from $267,748.06 to $295,175.65!
As far as our Library goes, 2025 was a pretty great one despite the significant setbacks it presented. Not receiving any new books for three months was not enjoyable, but we made it through. And 2026 started with our new book vendor finally shipping all of those books.
Happy New Year!
Thanks for Reading
Justin Snook
Dungeons & Dragons Club
Battletech Club
We have successfully launched a Dungeons and Dragons club that meets every other Tuesday at 4pm. It is already at capacity because we only have two volunteer Dungeon Masters (and they are both middle school students–thanks guys!), but email jsnook@cwmars.org to be added to a waitlist!
We’d also like to pilot a Battletech Club that meets on opposite Tuesdays so that gaming is happening at the Library every week. Battletech is a game that is easier to drop in and out of and does not require commitment to a long campaign. To the uninitiated, it is a game where you push miniatures of giant mechs (piloted robots) around a table, use charts to figure out who damages what, and engage in battle math! To the initiated… Mechwarriors: The drop point is the Simon Fairfield Public Library, January 27th at 4:00pm! Based on how many show up, we’ll do either Classic or Alpha Strike. Bring minis if you want, but we’ll have enough to go around for a basic grinder. This will be very informal and we will figure it out as we go. (If you like Warhammer 40k, we’ve got Gothic!)