Locations:
Main Library - Channahon
25207 W Channon Drive
PO Box 300
Channahon, IL 60410
Phone: 815-467-6200
Fax: 815-467-4012
Minooka Branch
109 N Wabena Avenue
PO Box 370
Minooka, IL 60447
Phone: 815-467-1600
Fax: 815-467-1632
What's Happening @ The Library...
Tie Blanket Project
The tie blanket project donates supplies and blankets to Native American Reservations throughout New Mexico and Arizona, for their harsh winters. Learn about the project and create tie fleece blankets to contribute to the process. Please bring 4 yards of fleece (fleece can be found at craft stores such as Joanne Fabric or Hobby Lobby). Registration Required. Volunteer credit can also be gained for coming to the program.Saturday, September 23
1-4pm, Minooka Branch
Upcoming Bus Trip
Les Miserables
Visit Chicago with us this fall on a musical bus trip! Tickets go on sale July 10th. Registration is required for each person, with payment due at the time of registration. A waiver must also be signed for the trip per person. Please visit our events calendar for more details, coming soon.
When: Wednesday, October 11
Where: Cadillac Palace Theater; The bus leaves promptly at 5:30pm from the Channahon location
Cost: $85 per person includes a seat on the bus and ticket to the show
Who: For ages 5 and up
*Trip Waiver can be found at either library location and is due Wednesday, October 4th
What's In Your Backyard? Minooka's Mastodons
In 1901 in small-town Minooka, farmer John Bamford worked his farm. As he dug in his backyard, widening his spring-fed well, he came across something strange. At first, he thought the obstacles were tree trunks, but upon closer inspection, the ‘trunks’ turned out to be huge bones, teeth, and other parts that didn’t belong to any creature he recognized. Mr. Bamford kept his finds, storing them in his cellar. Several years later, after hearing rumors of this strange find, George Langford Sr. traveled down to Minooka to retrieve the fossils and bones, in turn handing them over to the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History.Thanks to the generosity of the Field Museum of Natural History, Head of Collections William Simpson, and the Gantz Family Collections Center at the Field Museum, these bones have returned to Minooka for a limited time. Take a peek into the prehistoric past and visit these unique specimens in person at the Three Rivers Public Library District’s Local History Museum housed at the Minooka Branch at 109 N Wabena Ave in Minooka, IL.
The museum will be open for visitors during library hours on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month beginning in August. The museum will also be open Monday evenings. These hours are subject to change. To schedule a viewing during other library hours, contact Three Rivers Library’s Local Historian Michele Houchens at 815-467-1600 x207.
Photo Caption: George Langford Sr. sits with the mastodon tusk found on the Bamford farm in Minooka in 1901. Mr. Langford was instrumental in bringing the find from Minooka to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, IL. Photo courtesy of George Langford, III, Sc.D.
