Skip to main content
Home
Southbury Public Library

Southbury Public Library

11:00am-4:00pm
(203) 262-0626

522 Heritage Road
Southbury, CT 06488
United States

View on Google Maps

View Location Page

Sun: 1:00pm-5:00pm
Mon: 11:00am-5:30pm
Tue: 11:00am-7:00pm
Wed: 11:00am-5:30pm
Thu: 11:00am-7:00pm
Fri: 11:00am-5:30pm
Sat: 11:00am-4:00pm
My Account How Do I?

Main navigation

  • Using the Library
    • Search the Catalog
    • Books & More
      • Reading Recommendations
      • Suggest a Purchase
      • Interlibrary Loan Request
      • Homebound Services
      • eBooks and More
    • Spaces
      • Reserve a Meeting Room
      • Recording Studio
      • Art Gallery
    • Services
      • Museum Passes
      • Print/Copy/Scan
      • Computers
      • Mobile Printing
      • Adults
  • Events
    • View All Events
    • By Age
      • Children
      • Teens
      • Adults
    • Featured Events
      • Book Clubs
      • Storytimes
      • Movies
      • Music & Performance
      • Arts & Crafts
      • Past Event Photo Gallery
  • Research
    • View All Resources
    • Online Resources
      • Local History & Genealogy
      • Community Resources
      • Databases
      • All Other Resources
    • Featured Resources
      • Consumer Reports
      • Ancestry
      • A to Z Databases
  • Children & Teens
    • Youth Events
    • Children
      • Children's Book Recommendations
      • Children's Events
      • Storytimes
    • Teens
      • Teen Book Recommendations
      • Teen Events
      • College Resources
    • Get Involved
      • Junior Friends
      • Teen Advisory Board
      • Teen Volunteering
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • About the Library
      • About Us
      • Strategic Plan
      • Library Board
      • Staff
      • Policies
      • Value Calculator
      • Jobs
    • Support the Library
      • Friends of the Library
      • Volunteering
      • Gifting & Donations
  • 2025 Summer Reading Slide General

    A picture of the beach overlaid with the text "Summer Reading 2025: June 7-August 15, Featuring Events, Prize Raffles, and More for Children, Teens, and Adults!"
  • Bookopoly

    Bookopoly
  • July 2025 Teen Paint Picture Frame Slide

    A pink and yellow slide with a hand painted picture frame and the text "Paint a Picture Frame! Tuesday, July 8, 6:30-7:30pm. Grades 6-12. Parks & Rec. Registration Required."
  • June 26 2025 Teen Cute Animals Hangout Slide

    A purple slide with a cute rabbit and friendly looking corn snake with the text "Cute Animals Hangout! Thursday, June 26, 6:30-7:30pm, Grades 6-12, At Parks & Rec, Registration Required."
  • From The Jazz Singer to A Star Is Born: A History of the Movie Musical

    From The Jazz Singer to A Star Is Born: A History of the Movie Musical
  • Pizza from Scratch: Adults

    Pizza from Scratch: Adults
  • July 2025 YS Family Games Night Slide

    A teal slide with a picture of board games and the text "Family Games Night: Thursday, July 3, 17, & 31. 6:30-7:30, Parks & Rec, No Registration Required"
  • Adult Coloring Club

    Adult Coloring Club
Previous Next
Summer Reading quick link icon
Summer Reading quick link icon hover version
Summer Reading
Mobile printing quick link icon
Mobile printing quick link icon hover
Mobile Printing
ebooks and more quick link icon
ebooks and more quick link hover icon
eBooks & More
Reserve a Meeting room quick link icon
Reserve a Meeting room quick link icon hover
Reserve a Room
My account quick link icon
My Account quick link hover icon
My Account
Museum passes quick link icon
Museum passes quick link hover icon
Museum Passes
Adults
Teens
Children
Our Mission: Transforming lives by Educating, Inspiring, and Connecting

Upcoming Events

This event is in the "Children" group
Jul 8 2025 Tue

Babies & Books Storytime

10:30am–11:00am
Children
Registration Required
Offsite Event
This event is in the "Children" group
Jul 8 2025 Tue

Babies & Books Storytime

10:30am–11:00am
Children
Library Branch: Off Site
Age Group: Children
Program Type: Storytimes, Summer Reading
Registration Required
Event Details:

Babies & Books is a lapsit storytime for children 6 to 24 months and their parents/caregivers. Listen to short stories and songs. 

Disclaimer(s)

Accessibility

The library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have any concerns about accessibility or need to request specific accommodations, please contact the library.

Accompanying Adults

This program is designed for children and accompanying adults. Please plan to attend and be engaged with your child for this program. Drop offs will not be permitted.

This event is in the "Teens" group
Jul 8 2025 Tue

Paint a Picture Frame

6:30pm–7:30pm
Teens
Registration Required
Offsite Event
This event is in the "Teens" group
Jul 8 2025 Tue

Paint a Picture Frame

6:30pm–7:30pm
Teens
Library Branch: Off Site
Age Group: Teens
Program Type: Arts & Crafts, Summer Reading
Registration Required
Event Details:

Join us to paint a wooden picture frame! We’ll have all the supplies you need. Please wear clothing you don't mind getting paint on.

Registration is required and space is limited.

Disclaimer(s)

Accessibility

The library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have any concerns about accessibility or need to request specific accommodations, please contact the library.

This event is in the "Adults" group
Jul 9 2025 Wed

Nonfiction Book Club

10:00am–11:00am
Adults
Registration Required
Offsite Event
This event is in the "Adults" group
Jul 9 2025 Wed

Nonfiction Book Club

10:00am–11:00am
Adults
Library Branch: Off Site
Age Group: Adults
Program Type: Book Clubs
Registration Required
Event Details:

This month we'll be discussing A Rome of One's Own: The Forgotten Women of the Roman Empire, by Emma Southon.

Disclaimer(s)

Accessibility

The library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have any concerns about accessibility or need to request specific accommodations, please contact the library.

This event is in the "Children" group
Jul 9 2025 Wed

ZOOM - Tiny Food Explorers: Banana Pancakes

11:00am–12:00pm
Children
Registration Required
This event is in the "Children" group
Jul 9 2025 Wed

ZOOM - Tiny Food Explorers: Banana Pancakes

11:00am–12:00pm
Children
Library Branch: Southbury Public Library
Room: Online
Age Group: Children
Program Type: Cooking Classes, Summer Reading, Workshop
Registration Required
Event Details:

Join us for a joyful and interactive cooking class designed for preschoolers and their grown-ups! In this fun-filled session, little chefs will team up with their adults to make warm, fluffy Banana Pancakes from scratch.

Disclaimer(s)

Accessibility

The library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have any concerns about accessibility or need to request specific accommodations, please contact the library.

Food Allergies

We cannot guarantee that food served at this program has not come into contact with tree nuts, soy, or other allergens.

This event is in the "Children" group
Jul 9 2025 Wed

ZOOM - Food Explorers: Pizza Stuffed Naan Bread

1:00pm–2:00pm
Children
Registration Required
This event is in the "Children" group
Jul 9 2025 Wed

ZOOM - Food Explorers: Pizza Stuffed Naan Bread

1:00pm–2:00pm
Children
Library Branch: Southbury Public Library
Room: Online
Age Group: Children
Program Type: Cooking Classes, Summer Reading, Workshop
Registration Required
Event Details:

Join Food Explorers for a virtual baking class!  Let your young chef's creativity rise in this hands-on cooking class where kids will make their own Pizza-Stuffed Naan Breads completely from scratch!

Disclaimer(s)

Accessibility

The library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have any concerns about accessibility or need to request specific accommodations, please contact the library.

Food Allergies

We cannot guarantee that food served at this program has not come into contact with tree nuts, soy, or other allergens.

This event is in the "Children" group
Jul 10 2025 Thu

Tunes & Tales (at Parks & Rec)

10:30am–11:00am
Children
Offsite Event
This event is in the "Children" group
Jul 10 2025 Thu

Tunes & Tales (at Parks & Rec)

10:30am–11:00am
Children
Library Branch: Off Site
Age Group: Children
Program Type: Music, Storytimes, Summer Reading
Event Details:

Join Miss Jen for a morning filled with music and stories! Children will sing, dance, and experiment with simple musical instruments. This program is recommended for ages 5 and under. 

Disclaimer(s)

Accessibility

The library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have any concerns about accessibility or need to request specific accommodations, please contact the library.

Accompanying Adults

This program is designed for children and accompanying adults. Please plan to attend and be engaged with your child for this program. Drop offs will not be permitted.

This event is in the "Teens" group
Jul 10 2025 Thu

Teen Dungeons & Dragons

1:00pm–4:00pm
Teens
Registration Required
Offsite Event
This event is in the "Teens" group
Jul 10 2025 Thu

Teen Dungeons & Dragons

1:00pm–4:00pm
Teens
Library Branch: Off Site
Age Group: Teens
Program Type: Games and Recreation, Gaming, Summer Reading
Registration Required
Event Details:

Join us and Dungeon Master Ethan for this one shot D&D campaign! Rather than a long term commitment, this adventure will conclude in just one session. It is open to all skill levels!

Disclaimer(s)

Accessibility

The library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have any concerns about accessibility or need to request specific accommodations, please contact the library.

Food Allergies

We cannot guarantee that food served at this program has not come into contact with tree nuts, soy, or other allergens.

This event is in the "Children" group
Jul 10 2025 Thu

Storytime & Crafts at the Farmers' Market

3:30pm–4:30pm
Children
Offsite Event
This event is in the "Children" group
Jul 10 2025 Thu

Storytime & Crafts at the Farmers' Market

3:30pm–4:30pm
Children
Library Branch: Off Site
Age Group: Children
Program Type: Storytimes, Summer Reading
Event Details:

Stop by the Southbury Farmers' Market and enjoy stories & a take-and-make craft with the librarians from the Southbury Public Library!

Disclaimer(s)

Accessibility

The library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have any concerns about accessibility or need to request specific accommodations, please contact the library.

This event is in the "Adults" group
Jul 11 2025 Fri

ZOOM - Preserving the Past: Exploring the USA’s National Historic Sites

2:00pm–3:30pm
Adults
Registration Required
This event is in the "Adults" group
Jul 11 2025 Fri

ZOOM - Preserving the Past: Exploring the USA’s National Historic Sites

2:00pm–3:30pm
Adults
Library Branch: Southbury Public Library
Room: Online
Age Group: Adults
Program Type: Lectures, Summer Reading
Registration Required
Event Details:

Join us for a captivating journey through time. In this immersive presentation, we will delve into the rich tapestry of American history, uncovering the hidden gems and iconic landmarks that have shaped the nation.

Disclaimer(s)

Accessibility

The library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have any concerns about accessibility or need to request specific accommodations, please contact the library.

Zoom

This program will be taking place on Zoom. The invitation links will be sent via email on the day of the program. To ensure that the invitation link reaches you, check your inbox for the registration confirmation email after signing up.

  • View More
June Events at the Southbury Public Library

June Events at the Southbury Public Library

Hello, Friends!

Read More...
May Events at the Southbury Public Library

May Events at the Southbury Public Library

Hello, Friends!

Happy May! Stop by to visit our temporary location within the Heritage Hotel! Located at 522 Heritage Road in Southbury, this temporary location will provide the in-person library services you're familiar with as we continue to recover from extreme damage caused by the flooding in August 2024.

Read More...
View All Posts

Staff Picks

  • Image for "An Immense World"
    An Immense World

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “thrilling” (The New York Times), “dazzling” (The Wall Street Journal) tour of the radically different ways that animals perceive the world that will fill you with wonder and forever alter your perspective, by Pulitzer Prize–winning science journalist Ed Yong
     
    “One of this year’s finest works of narrative nonfiction.”—Oprah Daily

    ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Time, People, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Slate, Reader’s Digest, Chicago Public Library, Outside, Publishers Weekly, BookPage

    ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Oprah Daily, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Economist, Smithsonian Magazine, Prospect (UK), Globe & Mail, Esquire, Mental Floss, Marginalian, She Reads, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal

    The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world.

    In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us. We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires, turtles that can track the Earth’s magnetic fields, fish that fill rivers with electrical messages, and even humans who wield sonar like bats. We discover that a crocodile’s scaly face is as sensitive as a lover’s fingertips, that the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, that plants thrum with the inaudible songs of courting bugs, and that even simple scallops have complex vision. We learn what bees see in flowers, what songbirds hear in their tunes, and what dogs smell on the street. We listen to stories of pivotal discoveries in the field, while looking ahead at the many mysteries that remain unsolved.

    Funny, rigorous, and suffused with the joy of discovery, An Immense World takes us on what Marcel Proust called “the only true voyage . . . not to visit strange lands, but to possess other eyes.”

    WINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL • FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD • LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/E.O. WILSON AWARD

  • Image for "The Only One Left"
    The Only One Left

    THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

    Named a summer book to watch by The Washington Post, Boston Globe, USA Today, Oprah, Paste, Country Living, Good Housekeeping, and Nerd Daily


    "Propulsive ... a dizzying Gothic whodunit."
    —New York Times Book Review

    Bestselling author Riley Sager returns with a Gothic chiller about a young caregiver assigned to work for a woman accused of a Lizzie Borden-like massacre decades earlier.


    At seventeen, Lenora Hope
    Hung her sister with a rope

    Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.

    Stabbed her father with a knife
    Took her mother’s happy life

    It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything.

    “It wasn’t me,” Lenora said
    But she’s the only one not dead
     
    As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.

  • Cover image for "Bookshops & Bonedust"
    Bookshops & Bonedust

    When an injury throws a young, battle-hungry orc off her chosen path, she may find that what we need isn't always what we seek.

    In Bookshops & Bonedust, a prequel to Legends & Lattes, New York Times bestselling author Travis Baldree takes us on a journey of high fantasy, first loves, and second-hand books.

    Viv's career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam's Ravens isn't going as planned.

    Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she's packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk—so far from the action that she worries she'll never be able to return to it.

    What's a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?

    Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn't possibly imagine.

    Still, adventure isn't all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.

  • Image for "Enter the Body"
    Enter the Body

    In the room beneath a stage's trapdoor, all of Shakespeare’s tragically dead teenage girls—Juliet, Ophelia, Cordelia, and others—compare their experiences and retell the stories of their lives in their own terms.

    Enter the Body gives voice to a cast of the young women who die in Shakespeare's most iconic plays. Focusing on the stories of Juliet, Ophelia, and Cordelia, bestselling author of Blood Water Paint Joy McCullough brilliantly weaves retellings of Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, and King Lear into a larger story about how young women can support each other in the aftermath of trauma.

  • Image for "When the Angels Left the Old Country"
    When the Angels Left the Old Country

    Stonewall Book Award Winner

    Sydney Taylor Award Winner


    Michael L. Printz Honor Book

    National Jewish Book Award Finalist


    AudioFile Earphones Award Winner



    BEST OF THE YEAR: NPR · New York Public Library · Kirkus


    For fans of Good Omens—a queer immigrant fairytale about individual purpose, the fluid nature of identity, and the power of love to change and endure.

    Uriel the angel and Little Ash (short for Ashmedai) are the only two supernatural creatures in their shtetl (which is so tiny, it doesn't have a name other than Shtetl). The angel and the demon have been studying together for centuries, but pogroms and the search for a new life have drawn all the young people from their village to America. When one of those young emigrants goes missing, Uriel and Little Ash set off to find her.

    Along the way the angel and demon encounter humans in need of their help, including Rose Cohen, whose best friend (and the love of her life) has abandoned her to marry a man, and Malke Shulman, whose father died mysteriously on his way to America. But there are obstacles ahead of them as difficult as what they've left behind. Medical exams (and demons) at Ellis Island. Corrupt officials, cruel mob bosses, murderers, poverty. The streets are far from paved with gold.

    PRAISE:

    ★ "Powerfully moving. Broad in scope, the strong queer relationships at its core provide an unfaltering anchor." —Publishers Weekly (starred)

    ★ "Immersive...Propulsive. A mashup of historical fiction and magical realism, this will find a satisfied audience in fans of both."—BCCB (starred)

    ★ "Extraordinary....Absorbing. A sublime novel about the fantastical, freeing nature of love."—Foreword Reviews (starred)

    ★ "Gorgeous, fascinating, and fun. Deftly tackles questions of identity, good and evil, obligation, and the many forms love can take."—Kirkus (starred)

    ★ "Terrific. Richly imagined and plotted, this inspired book has the timeless feeling of Jewish folklore."—Booklist (starred)

    ★ "Expansive queer tale that marries historical fiction with inventive world-building. Witty, cerebral storytelling."—Horn Book (starred)

    ★ "A must-buy for any collection, Lamb''s historical fiction novel brings soft queer joy to a compelling tale of immigrants and unions and Jewish folklore." —School Library Journal (starred)

  • Image for "Simon Sort of Says"
    Simon Sort of Says

    Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature

    "Funny, poignant and--most important--hopeful." --New York Times

    For fans of Kate DiCamillo and Jack Gantos, a hilarious, wrenching, hopeful novel about finding your friends, healing your heart, and speaking your truth.

    Simon O'Keeffe's biggest claim to fame should be the time his dad accidentally gave a squirrel a holy sacrament. Or maybe the alpaca disaster that went viral on YouTube. But the story the whole world wants to tell about Simon is the one he'd do anything to forget: the one starring Simon as a famous survivor of gun violence at school.

    Two years after the infamous event, twelve-year-old Simon and his family move to the National Quiet Zone--the only place in America where the internet is banned. Instead of talking about Simon, the astronomers who flock to the area are busy listening for signs of life in space. And when Simon makes a friend who's determined to give the scientists what they're looking for, he'll finally have the chance to spin a new story for the world to tell.

    From award-winning author Erin Bow, Simon Sort of Says is a breathtaking testament to the lasting echoes of trauma, the redemptive power of humor, and the courage it takes to move forward without forgetting the past.

  • Image for "Scorched Grace"
    Scorched Grace

    Sister Holiday, a chain-smoking, heavily tattooed, queer nun, puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test in this "unique and confident" debut crime novel (Gillian Flynn).

    When Saint Sebastian's School becomes the target of a shocking arson spree, the Sisters of the Sublime Blood and their surrounding New Orleans community are thrust into chaos.

    Patience is a virtue, but punk rocker turned nun Sister Holiday isn't satisfied to just wait around for officials to return her home and sanctuary to its former peace, instead deciding to unveil the mysterious attacker herself. Her investigation leads her down a twisty path of suspicion and secrets, turning her against colleagues, students, and even fellow Sisters along the way. And to piece together the clues of this high-stakes mystery, she must at last reckon with the sins of her own past.

    An exciting start to a bold series that breathes new life into the hard-boiled genre, Scorched Grace is a fast-paced and punchy whodunnit that will keep readers guessing until the very end.

  • Cover image for "The Facemaker"
    The Facemaker

    A New York Times Bestseller
    Finalist for the 2022 Kirkus Prize | Named a best book of the year by The Guardian

    "Enthralling. Harrowing. Heartbreaking. And utterly redemptive. Lindsey Fitzharris hit this one out of the park." —Erik Larson, author of The Splendid and the Vile


    Lindsey Fitzharris, the award-winning author of The Butchering Art, presents the compelling, true story of a visionary surgeon who rebuilt the faces of the First World War’s injured heroes, and in the process ushered in the modern era of plastic surgery.

    From the moment the first machine gun rang out over the Western Front, one thing was clear: humankind’s military technology had wildly surpassed its medical capabilities. Bodies were battered, gouged, hacked, and gassed. The First World War claimed millions of lives and left millions more wounded and disfigured. In the midst of this brutality, however, there were also those who strove to alleviate suffering. The Facemaker tells the extraordinary story of such an individual: the pioneering plastic surgeon Harold Gillies, who dedicated himself to reconstructing the burned and broken faces of the injured soldiers under his care.

    Gillies, a Cambridge-educated New Zealander, became interested in the nascent field of plastic surgery after encountering the human wreckage on the front. Returning to Britain, he established one of the world’s first hospitals dedicated entirely to facial reconstruction. There, Gillies assembled a unique group of practitioners whose task was to rebuild what had been torn apart, to re-create what had been destroyed. At a time when losing a limb made a soldier a hero, but losing a face made him a monster to a society largely intolerant of disfigurement, Gillies restored not just the faces of the wounded but also their spirits.

    The Facemaker places Gillies’s ingenious surgical innovations alongside the dramatic stories of soldiers whose lives were wrecked and repaired. The result is a vivid account of how medicine can be an art, and of what courage and imagination can accomplish in the presence of relentless horror.

  • Image for "The Wager"
    The Wager

    From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. With the twists and turns of a thriller Grann unearths the deeper meaning of the events on the Wager, showing that it was not only the captain and crew who ended up on trial, but the very idea of empire.

    On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing 2500 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes.

    But then ... six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes – they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death—for whomever the court found guilty could hang.

    The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann’s recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O’Brian, his portrayal of the castaways’ desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann’s work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound.

  • The Great Divide: A Novel
    The Great Divide: A Novel

    Tuesday Night Fiction Book Club: June 24, 2025

    A powerful novel about the construction of the Panama Canal, casting light on the unsung people who lived, loved, and labored there

    It is said that the canal will be the greatest feat of engineering in history. But first, it must be built. For Francisco, a local fisherman who resents the foreign powers clamoring for a slice of his country, nothing is more upsetting than the decision of his son, Omar, to work as a digger in the excavation zone. But for Omar, whose upbringing was quiet and lonely, this job offers a chance to finally find connection.

    Ada Bunting is a bold sixteen-year-old from Barbados who arrives in Panama as a stowaway alongside thousands of other West Indians seeking work. Alone and with no resources, she is determined to find a job that will earn enough money for her ailing sister’s surgery. When she sees a young man—Omar—who has collapsed after a grueling shift, she is the only one who rushes to his aid.

    John Oswald has dedicated his life to scientific research and has journeyed to Panama in single-minded pursuit of one goal: eliminating malaria. But now, his wife, Marian, has fallen ill herself, and when he witnesses Ada’s bravery and compassion, he hires her on the spot as a caregiver. This fateful decision sets in motion a sweeping tale of ambition, loyalty, and sacrifice.

    Searing and empathetic, The Great Divide explores the intersecting lives of activists, fishmongers, laborers, journalists, neighbors, doctors, and soothsayers—those rarely acknowledged by history even as they carved out its course.

    Join us Tuesday, June 24, 2025, for Tuesday Night Fiction Book Club!

    Print copies of this month’s book will be available at the Circulation Desk. Registration is requested, but not required. Tuesday Night Fiction Book Club selections may change. Final selections will weigh your feedback, book availability, and genre balance. Any changes made will be announced at book club meetings, in our newsletter, and on the library's website.

    New members are always welcome! For more information call the Reference Desk at 203-262-0626 ext. 2.

  • Cover Image for "Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone"
    Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone

    Knives Out and Clue meet Agatha Christie and The Thursday Murder Club in this “utterly original” (Jane Harper), “not to be missed” (Karin Slaughter), fiendishly clever blend of classic and modern murder mystery.

    Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate.

    I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that.

    Have I killed someone? Yes. I have.

    Who was it?

    Let’s get started.

    EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE

    My brother

    My stepsister

    My wife

    My father

    My mother

    My sister-in-law

    My uncle

    My stepfather

    My aunt

    Me

  • Image for "Aces Wild"
    Aces Wild

    What happens in Vegas when an all-asexual online friend group attempts to break into a high-stakes gambling club? Shenanigans ensue.

    "A fast-paced, thrilling diversion."—Kirkus Reviews

    Some people join chess club, some people play football. Jack Shannon runs a secret blackjack ring in his private school’s basement. What else is the son of a Las Vegas casino mogul supposed to do?

    Everything starts falling apart when Jack’s mom is arrested for their family’s ties to organized crime. His sister Beth thinks this is the Shannon family’s chance to finally go straight, but Jack knows that something’s not right. His mom was sold out, and he knows by who. Peter Carlevaro: rival casino owner and jilted lover. Gross.

    Jack hatches a plan to find out what Carlevaro’s holding over his mom’s head, but he can’t do it alone. He recruits his closest friends—the asexual support group he met through fandom forums. Now all he has to do is infiltrate a high-stakes gambling club and dodge dark family secrets, while hopelessly navigating what it means to be in love while asexual. Easy, right?

    A wild romp told in a can't-look-away-from voice, Aces Wild is packed with internet friend hijinks and ace representation galore!

  • Image for "My Name Is Jason. Mine Too."
    My Name Is Jason. Mine Too.

    A stunning visual autobiography of two crazy-talented besties, bestselling and award-winning author Jason Reynolds and painter Jason Griffin, who could never be who they are singularly if they weren’t who they were together.

    Once upon a time in America, there were two Jasons. Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin. One a poet. One an artist. One Black. One white. Two voices. One journey in mind: to move to New York, the city of dreams, to make their own dreams come true. Willing to have a life not un-hard, so long as it wasn’t unhappy. Willing to let the city swallow them whole, so long as it gives them their chance. They had each other. “What if painting was a sin, and the poetry became taboo. And no one ever clapped for me again. My question is, would you?”

    They clapped. Oh, they clapped. And aren’t we glad?

  • Image for "I'll Show Myself Out"
    I'll Show Myself Out

    The eagerly anticipated second essay collection from Jessi Klein, author of the acclaimed New York Times bestselling debut You’ll Grow Out of It.

    “Sometimes I think about how much bad news there is to tell my kid, the endlessly long, looping CVS receipt scroll of truly terrible things that have happened, and I want to get under the bed and never come out. How do we tell them about all this? Can we just play Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire and then brace for questions? The first of which should be, how is this a song that played on the radio?”

    In New York Times bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning writer and producer Jessi Klein’s second collection, she hilariously explodes the cultural myths and impossible expectations around motherhood and explore the humiliations, poignancies, and possibilities of midlife. 

    In interconnected essays like “Listening to Beyoncé in the Parking Lot of Party City,” “Your Husband Will Remarry Five Minutes After You Die,” “Eulogy for My Feet,” and “An Open Love Letter to Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent,” Klein explores this stage of life in all its cruel ironies, joyous moments, and bittersweetness.

    Written with Klein’s signature candor and humanity, I'll Show Myself Out is an incisive, moving, and often uproarious collection.

  • Image for "Jane Austen's Lost Letters"
    Jane Austen's Lost Letters

    Jane K. Cleland returns with Jane Austen's Lost Letters, the fourteenth installment in the beloved Josie Prescott Antiques series, set on the rugged New Hampshire coast.

    Antiques appraiser Josie Prescott is in the midst of filming a segment for her new television show, Josie’s Antiques, when the assistant director interrupts to let her know she has a visitor. Josie reluctantly pauses production and goes outside, where she finds an elegant older woman waiting to see her.

    Veronica Sutton introduces herself as an old friend of Josie’s father, who had died twenty years earlier. Veronica seems fidgety, and after only a few minutes, hands Josie a brown paper-wrapped package, about the size of a shoebox, and leaves.

    Mystified, Josie opens the package, and gasps when she sees what’s inside: a notecard bearing her name—in her father’s handwriting—and a green leather box. Inside the box are two letters in transparent plastic sleeves. The first bears the salutation, “My dear Cassandra,” the latter, “Dearest Fanny.” Both are signed “Jane Austen.” Could her father have really accidentally found two previously unknown letters by one of the world’s most beloved authors—Jane Austen? Reeling, Josie tries to track down Veronica, but the woman has vanished without a trace.

    Josie sets off on the quest of a lifetime to learn what Veronica knows about her father and to discover whether the Jane Austen letters are real. As she draws close to the truth, she finds herself in danger, and learns that some people will do anything to keep a secret—even kill.

View All

In the Gallery

Image of a Bridge

Swing into Spring

Image of water

Spring Arrives

Image of a sunset

Southbury Sunset

View All
Subscribe to our newsletter!

Sign up today to hear about new programs & events!

Our Location

Heritage Hotel
522 Heritage Road
Southbury, CT 06488
(203) 262-0626

Contact Us
About Us

Library Hours

Mon: 11:00am - 5:30pm
Tues: 11:00am - 7:00pm
Wed: 11:00am - 5:30pm
Thurs: 11:00am - 7:00pm
Fri: 11:00am - 5:30pm
Sat: 11:00am - 4:00pm
Sun: 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Holidays & Closings
Our hours and services may vary depending on outside events at the Heritage Hotel.

Useful Links

Storytimes
Museum Passes
Friends of the Library
Movie Screenings
Book Clubs
Art Gallery
Solar Panels

Connect with Us

Facebook
Facebook (Youth)
Instagram
"The Heart of the Community"
Southbury Connecticut seal
Back To Top