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Resilience and Community

September 11, 2001

“When terrorists slammed into the Pentagon on September 11, they aimed at the heart of the nation’s defense, with a goal of weakening the United States and spreading great international uncertainty. The first response to this blow at the world’s only remaining superpower, and to the tragic aftermath, was led by the same people who respond to every emergency, large and small, every day—local government. At the Pentagon, this meant Arlington County, Virginia.”

Former Arlington County Manager Ron Carlee, remembrance speech on the anniversary of 9/11, Sept. 11, 2002, Charlie Clark Center for Local History

 

 

Honoring the Memory of Those Affected by the Attacks

Following 9/11, the Arlington community demonstrated remarkable resilience, compassion and determination. While the lives of those lost can never be restored, the tragedy inspired lasting lessons about unity, service and perseverance—both locally and nationally.

Supported by neighbors, businesses and people across the nation, Arlington emerged stronger—embracing growth and adapting to change while honoring the memory of those affected by the attacks.

Large banner that reads, “Let there Be Peace on Earth” displayed near the Pentagon following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Photo credit Diane Kresh. Charlie Clark Center for Local History, 133-01-02-01-130
Members of the Arlington County Fire Department with children.

Members of the Arlington County Fire Department pose with children in front of a mural created to thank them for their service. Photo credit Michael DeFina.
Charlie Clark Center for Local History, 133-0104

Closeup of a "God Bless America" bumper sticker and a pumpkin that has "For the children who won't carve a pumpkin this year" written on it, among the items at a memorial for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon. Photo credit Diane Kresh. Charlie Clark Center for Local History, 133-01-02-01-128

New Government Services Go Online

In the months after September 11, Fire Department Assistant Chief of Operations James Schwartz, the incident commander at the Pentagon terrorist attack, was appointed to head the County’s newly organized emergency management office.

The new office would better align Arlington for disaster preparedness and response in the future. James Schwartz later served as fire chief from 2004-2015 and was named Deputy County Manager for Public Safety and Technology in 2015 until his retirement in 2021.

Among his many achievements during Schwartz’s career was Arlington Alert, a new text and e-mail paging service for Arlington residents and employees. “Arlington Alert” sends alerts about local traffic, hazardous weather and major events.

In 2002, Arlington County Government created the Arlington Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) in response to 9/11.

CERT is a volunteer program that works with Arlington community members to prepare for and respond to emergencies. Volunteers receive free training in disaster preparedness, triage, first aid, fire suppression, disaster psychology, terrorism awareness and more.

Closeup of a flier for a memorial service for Major Dwayne Williams to be held at Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church in Fort Washington, Maryland on September 28, 2001. The flier is among other items in a large memorial for victims near the grounds of the Pentagon where Williams perished in the 9/11 terrorist attack. Photo credit Diane Kresh. Charlie Clark Center for Local History, 133-01-02-01-127

A Community Comes Together

After 9/11, the Arlington community mourned, provided moral support and gave encouragement to the first responders.

Hundreds of calls came in on the information line, and public shrines appeared near the Pentagon. Starting the first night after the attack, homemade food was delivered to fire stations and other sites throughout the County. However, without proper food preparation methods, homemade food could not be safely consumed.

The Crystal City Sports Pub, located at 529, 23rd St. Arlington, VA 22202, was one of the many businesses donating food and supplies during the rescue and recovery efforts.

Late in the disaster response, County recreation centers were used to engage residents in structured activities such as sharing experiences and creating supportive messages for rescue workers and victims.

Firefighters and rescue workers clearing debris at the impact site of the Pentagon following the attack. Photo credit Michael DeFina.
Charlie Clark Center for Local History, 133-01-01-01-0013

Arlington Remembers

The Pentagon’s outer ring was rebuilt ahead of schedule and completed in August 2002, with broader renovations completed by 2011.

Each year, local communities, the Pentagon and federal government agencies remember the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and commemorate the tremendous efforts by local, state and federal agencies and first responders.

The crash sites in New York, Arlington and Shanksville are now a museum and national memorials.

As people who remember that day still struggle to make sense of the terrorist attacks, an increasing share of young Americans were not yet born or do not have memories of 9/11 itself. Now more than ever, it is important to keep this historic tragedy—and our unified response—in our collective memory.

Want to Learn More?

Visit the Charlie Clark Center for Local History to learn more about 9/11. The Center houses a diverse collection of oral histories, documents, photos and more related to the Pentagon terrorist attack.

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The Response in Arlington

Through Smoke, Fire and Darkness

“We came across numerous bodies at the time—[in] various states. Some of them... you could tell were in their office, and the flames overcame the whole place, and they had no chance whatsoever to get out. Other areas, you could see people that were crawling around on the floor trying to get out, or help others, and they succumbed to the smoke too, and they were just lying in the middle of the floor, in the middle of the hallway, as they tried to get out.”

Dean Tills, Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Department,
excerpt from oral history interview, 2012, Charlie Clark Center for Local History

 

 

A Changed World

For Arlington County first responders, who for nearly two grueling weeks led the rescue and recovery efforts at the Pentagon, the world after September 11, 2001, would never be the same. They may not have lost any of their own that day, but the 343 firefighters and almost 3,000 victims who perished during the 9/11 terrorist attacks in Arlington, New York City and Shanksville weighed heavily on their minds.

It tested them in ways few could have imagined.

Workers in white suits headed toward the wreckage of the Pentagon the day after the 9/11 attack. Photo credit Michael DeFina. Charlie Clark Center for Local History, 133-01-01-01-0066
Planning the next steps.

Two firefighters draw plans to work on the impact site at the Pentagon following the 9/11 attack.
Photo credit Michael DeFina. Charlie Clark Center for Local History, 133-01-01-01-0030

Early Civilian and Military Response

Many of the Pentagon’s more than 20,000 civilian and military personnel were already on edge when the attack came. News of the crashes in New York City rang through the corridors, and employees watched their office televisions in disbelief as smoke engulfed the two towers. Then, the unimaginable happened.

When Flight 77 hit its target, it ripped through three of the five outer rings of the building, destroying all five stories of the western façade of the Pentagon and leaving a 100-foot wide hole of destruction.

In the immediate aftermath, Pentagon employees acted selflessly and heroically to help evacuate their shaken and injured colleagues. Their quick actions, before emergency crews arrived on the scene, meant that more people survived that day.

Firefighters taking a much-needed break at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport fire station at 10 p.m. on September 11, after a day-long rescue effort at the Pentagon following the attacks. Photo credit Michael DeFina. Charlie Clark Center for Local History, 133-01-01-01-0033

Rescue Units Arrive

Arlington’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) received early warnings from County emergency workers who saw the low-flying plane. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Fire & Rescue Departments, serving Fort Myer and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, were notified, both of which had already started to respond. Dispatchers also asked Alexandria, Fairfax County and the District of Columbia fire and EMS services to stage units in readiness near the Pentagon.

The number of departments and volunteers responding, combined with the confusion and chaos at the scene underscored the need for effective command and control. This became the responsibility of Arlington County Fire Department (ACFD) Assistant Chief of Operations James Schwartz, who arrived at the scene within ten minutes of the impact. Schwartz set up an incident command center near the crash site.

Rescue units from Arlington, Fort Myer, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and the District of Columbia arrived first at the scene and bore the brunt of the fire battle. The firefighters performed their most critical missions during the first 36 hours—at first to save lives, then to contain the blaze.

For ten days following the attack, until the fire was officially declared extinguished, the ACFD retained control of the crash site. They transferred control of the crime scene to the FBI on September 21 at 7 a.m. The FBI returned control of the site to the Department of Defense on September 26.

By that time, most human remains had been recovered from the site and were transported to the Dover Port Mortuary at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware before being returned to their families.

Firefighters huddling together to begin work on the morning of September 12 at the Pentagon, the day after the 9/11 attack. Photo credit Michael DeFina. Charlie Clark Center for Local History, 133-01-01-01-0024

Firefighters Faced Multiple Obstacles

The situation for firefighters was daunting, and initial search and rescue missions were extremely dangerous. Searching from room to room for survivors, firefighters used axes, crowbar-like tools, sledgehammers and a hydraulic device to pry doors open.

They encountered heavy smoke and debris everywhere—broken glass, melted plastic, twisted pipes and a layer of black soot covering every surface. The jet fuel burned fiercely and was intensified by the radiant heat coming from the center of the crash site. Estimates of maximum interior temperatures ranged up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Rescue units used thermal energy cameras to look for bodies, but unfortunately they found no one alive. Most rescues happened in the early minutes shortly after the incident before the firefighters arrived.

After the fire finally was contained on the afternoon of Sept. 12, David Lange, Battalion Chief of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, led a crew of firefighters and soldiers to the roof, where they draped a large American flag over the side of the building, just south of the impact point.

The image of the giant flag would become a strong symbol to the first responders and the public of both the tragedy of 9/11 and also of hope and perseverance.

The giant U.S. flag would become a strong symbol to the first responders and the public of both the tragedy of 9/11 and also of hope and perseverance.

An American flag is draped over a portion of the Pentagon near where the structure was hit by a plane during the 9/11 attack. Photo credit Diane Kresh. Charlie Clark center for Local History, 133-01-02-01-107

Want to Learn More?

Click below and find out how the Arlington community demonstrated remarkable resilience, compassion and determination, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

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Remembering 9/11

September 11, 2001

“… one thing that I will always remember… we were on the ramp of 395 down to Washington Boulevard, and I looked over to South Joyce Street… if there was ever an image of Armageddon… all I saw were hundreds and hundreds of people walking with nowhere to go. These were civilians, they were military… there was no one telling them where to go, just a block of humanity going down Joyce Street.”

James M. Daly, lieutenant, Arlington County Police Department,
excerpt from oral history interview, 2006, Charlie Clark Center for Local History

 

 

A Nation Forever Changed

On September 11, 2001, the United States suffered a devastating terrorist attack that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people. The coordinated hijacking of four commercial airplanes and attacks on symbolic American targets forever changed the nation, leaving behind deep grief and trauma.

Yet amid tragedy, remarkable acts of courage, sacrifice and resilience emerged.

Twin Towers on Fire View of the twin towers on fire, following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, New York City. Photo credit Juan González. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-02099
View of the twin towers on fire, following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, New York City. Photo credit Juan González. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-02099
Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani ordered the evacuation of Lower Manhattan, resulting in hundreds of thousands of residents, workers and visitors leaving the area.

A tattered American flag waving from broken tree trunk in the foreground, with rescue workers and a car on fire in the distance, following the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, New York City. Photo credit Michael Schwartz.
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-01834

The plume of smoke from the Pentagon attack on September 11, 2001, taken as Michael Defina was en route from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Photo credit Michael Defina. Charlie Clark Center for Local History, 133-01-01-02-0080
The plume of smoke from the Pentagon attack on September 11, 2001, taken as Michael DeFina was en route from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Photo credit Michael DeFina. Charlie Clark Center for Local History, 133-01-01-02-0080

Flight 77

It was 9:37 a.m., Tuesday, September 11, 2001, when the American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the western side of the Pentagon, adjacent to the heliport, in Arlington, Virginia.

Less than an hour earlier in New York City, two hijacked planes (American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175) struck the World Trade Center’s North and South Towers, eventually causing both structures and Building 7 to collapse. Everyone on board the planes and hundreds of people inside the buildings, including rescue personnel, were killed.

A firetruck and people at the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93, at a field near Shanksville, PA, after it was hijacked on September 11, 2001. Photo credit Mark Stahl. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppbd-00038 
A firetruck and people at the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93, at a field near Shanksville, PA, after it was hijacked on September 11, 2001. Photo credit Mark Stahl. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppbd-00038

Flight 93

In the final minutes of United Airlines Flight 93, passengers and crew members attempted to regain control of the aircraft from the hijackers. The plane subsequently crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:03 a.m., approximately 20 minutes before it would have reached Washington, D.C. All 44 people onboard, including the four hijackers, were killed.

Aerial view of the western side of the Pentagon.

Aerial view of the Pentagon in Arlington, VA, showing the damaged area where the hijacked American Airlines flight 77 crashed during the September 11 terrorist attack. Photo credit United States Department of Defense.
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-02093

A Nation In Shock

In Arlington, seconds before the crash, Flight 77 traveled on an east-northeast course above Columbia Pike, at 530 m.p.h., before turning towards the Pentagon. The destructive forces of the plane’s impact and subsequent explosion of 7,000 gallons of jet fuel ripped open the building, leaving behind a path of destruction that killed 189 and injured 106 people inside. Onboard Flight 77, all 64 people, including five hijackers, were killed.

As the events which would come to be known as “9/11” unfolded that day, the region—and the nation—were in shock. The lives of thousands of people, victims and their families, first responders and survivors, would forever be changed.

Want to Learn More?

Click below and find out more about the early civilian an military response, the rescue units and the role of the Arlington County Fire Department during the Pentagon terrorist attack.

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New July Releases

July is serving up sizzling temperatures and can't-miss new reads!

The long, sunny days of midsummer are perfect for getting lost in a good book. From the beach to the Metro, whether you’re reading on your vacation escape or reading to escape, there are several great books to choose from this month.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia's latest book, The Intrigue, is an atmospheric noir, set in 1940s Mexico and full of morally complex characters. Ulises gets by through lonely heart scams. His latest target is Perla, but her niece figures out Ulises’ game. She doesn’t want to stop him—she just wants in on the action—but Perla is a much more formidable op-ponent than they assumed.

Kiamling and her family keep Hong Kong safe from supernatural threats. But the opium trade has brought a growing British presence, and British spirits are starting to meld with Cantonese ones. Harbour of Hungry Ghosts by Eliza Chan is an action-packed historical fantasy full of vivid atmosphere and clashing mythologies.

Wanting to move more and alleviate her stress, author Angelica Glass decided to walk every street in California’s Santa Cruz County. She took photographs and notes of what she saw along the way, but the long walks also gave her time to think and reflect on her abusive childhood. Scavenging Beauty by Angelica Glass is part memoir, part nature journal and a compelling read about the healing power of exercise, nature and curiosity.

Often the leading edge of both popular and counter cultures, nightlife has long offered escape and liberation, especially for marginalized groups. Imogen Willetts’ immersive history, Up All Night, shows how nightlife has shaped history and culture from the 17th-century Edo’s pleasure quarter to the 90s raves in Detroit and beyond.

After the death of her parents, Raven moves to a new town with her aunt and hopes to leave her grief behind. Instead, she finds herself the target of bullies, rumors that she's a witch and a vice principal who seems determined to enforce unfair rules. As Raven be-friends two girls with magical gifts of their own, she begins to reconnect with her love of baking and her Cherokee heritage. Middle grade readers looking for gentle fantasy blended with themes of grief, identity and activism will want to check out Raven Rising by Christine Hartman Derr.

When Rosamund Hammond transfers to a prestigious ballet school, she discovers she’s replacing a student who vanished under mysterious circumstances. While investigating the disappearance and rehearsing for a production of Coppélia, Rosamund be-comes entangled with the school's enigmatic headmistress and begins to question her own grip on reality. With haunting artwork and a dark academia atmosphere, Corpse de Ballet by Megan Kearney is a gripping psychological horror graphic novel for teen readers.

Place Your Holds Now!

Level up your skills with LinkedIn Learning.

Looking for a productive summer project? Use your library card to access LinkedIn Learning and take courses in technology, business, leadership, AI, Microsoft Office, creative skills and more. Learn at your own pace—free through the Library.

LinkedIn Learning

More book lists to explore.

July is Disability Pride Month.

Biography & Memoir
Disability Poetics

New June Releases

Summer is officially here!

Whenever and wherever you’re reading—from vacation road trips and afternoons spent poolside, to sunny commutes and eating lunch outdoors—June has several great books to choose from.

In the 1870s, LA only has 180 Chinese residents, and only 30 are women. Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See focuses on an unlikely friendship between three of them who are bound together by the terrifying violence of the real-life anti-Chinese massacre in 1871.

Lev AC Rosen’s Disaster Gay Detective Agency features four friends trying to solve a mystery after witnessing a murder that might have been committed by an ill-advised one-night stand. Told with multiple narrators, this mystery-thriller is full of laugh-out-loud humor and great characters.

Tucked away at Arlington Hall, the Traffic Processing Division sorted through and decoded foreign intelligence during WWII and the Cold War. This segregated office was staffed by Black people, mostly women, and was poorly ventilated, under-resourced and over-worked, but made invaluable contributions to America’s security. In Decoding the Devil, Sarah Valentine shines a spotlight on this long-overlooked chapter of Cold War history.

Sidewalk Nation by Michael Pollack examines the importance of sidewalks in determining a community's strength. Despite receiving very little funding or notice, they play an outsized role in everything from commerce to free speech, climate resilience to public health. Looking at over a dozen cities and towns in the United States, this book explores what’s working and what isn’t in this vital everyday resource.

Middle graders will be on the edge of their seats with Lydia Cooper is a Lie by Meaghan McIsaac. Lydia’s over-protective father has banned all social media, but when she sets up a secret account anyway, someone breaks into their home and they’re forced to go on the run. It turns out they’ve been living in a witness protection program and everything Lydia thought she knew is a lie, even her own name.

Teen fans of Taylor Swift can soon rejoice over the new anthology 13 Little Love Stories. 13 different YA authors take inspiration from a different song from Swift’s catalog to explore a wide range of relationships and feelings.

Place Your Holds Now!

AtoZdatabases: Find, verify and connect—all in one search!

Looking to reconnect with someone, verify contact details or do a quick lookup? AtoZdatabases makes it easy.

Start at the homepage and select “Find a Person.” Search residential listings, business executives or both. Narrow by location or use reverse phone lookup. Flexible name matching (e.g., Jen/Jennifer/Jenny) helps you find the right person fast.

Great for:

  • Reconnecting with friends or relatives
  • Verifying contact information
  • Researching people and neighborhoods

With this powerful, but simple tool, AtoZdatabases helps you move from questions to answers in just a few clicks. Login now with your library card.

AtoZdatabases

More book lists to explore.

June is Pride Month. Explore Library Director Diane Kresh's 2026 Pride list and recent fiction by queer authors that have earned rave reviews.

Pride Guest List: Diane K's Picks
Best Recent Queer Fiction

New May Releases

Spring cleaning?

We prefer spring reading. Luckily for us, May is bursting with great new releases just waiting to be added to your to-be-read pile.

Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel examines bodily autonomy, motherhood and aging when 77-year-old Pepper Mills moves into a retirement home, finds new love and shockingly gets pregnant.

When best friends Juniper and Mo end up on an unexpected dragon hunt, they learn the fearsome beast is actually a scared child and they must change tracks to find the real monster while battling their growing attraction in Máire Roche’s cozy Bromantasy.

Author and translator Sara Nović's new memoir, Mother Tongue, details her journey with deafness after gradually losing her hearing as a child and hiding her disability until college. She uses her own story to explore identity, discrimination, eugenics, education, adoption and more.

In The Lost Voices of Pompeii, historian and archaeologist Jess Venner draws on deep archaeological evidence to speculatively reconstruct the lives of seven people in Pompeii as they go about their day in the hours before Mount Vesuvius erupts.

When the Wisest of the Wise Witches proclaims Tessa to be the chosen one destined to save her people, Tessa is pretty sure they have the wrong person. She and her best friend are off to an adventure to find someone else for the job in Amy Sparkes’ humorous middle grade series opener, The Unchosen One.

Looking for her missing twin, Lehua travels to an ultra-exclusive resort where Ohia supposedly had an internship. When she’s stranded there by an incoming storm, Lehua discovers the resort is hiding a dark history and much darker secrets than she imagined in Keala Kendall’s teen horror novel, That Which Feeds Us.

Place Your Holds Now!

Got research? Start with Explora.

Whether you are conducting research for a school project or just looking to satisfy your curiosity about a topic of interest, Explora can help you achieve your goals.

Available for free through the Library, Explora offers reliable information on thousands of topics covering a wide range of subjects including art and music, literature, geography, history, science, technology, world cultures and more.

Explora

More book lists to explore.

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander and Jewish American Heritage Month.

Best Recent Asian American Fiction
Nation­al Jew­ish Book Award

New April Releases

Our new April book releases are here.

T.S. Eliot famously wrote "April is the cruelest month," but with so many great books coming out, we have to disagree.

Whether you’re inside to hide from April showers or the pollen count, reading on the Metro on the way to a Nats game or enjoying the warmer weather to read outside, there’s plenty to choose from.

In The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon, a sentient Roomba joins forces with the other appliances to thwart a plan by the Grid, an all-knowing AI network which controls homes, vehicles and daily life.

After losing her job in a butcher shop, the widowed Mrs. Shim uses her ability to stay unnoticed and her superior knife skills, as she pursues a new career as a killer-for-hire. But she’s a little too good. Her victims don’t notice her, but her rivals do in Mrs. Shim is a Killer by Kang Jiyoung, translated from Korean by Paige Morris.

Paul Stob’s Empire of Skulls traces the rise and fall of the Fowler family, who built an empire on the pseudoscience of reading the bumps on people’s skulls. Who cares that phrenology is utter nonsense when it taps into the core American belief that the self can be measured, understood and improved? But what lingers is the darker story of how that same hopeful message gets co-opted to justify racism and xenophobia.

London Falling looks at the death of 19-year-old Zac Brettler, who was living a double life as "Zac Ismailov," fictitious heir to a Russian oligarch's fortune, consorting with a slippery businessman and a violent gangland enforcer. The intimate tragedy of Brettler's grieving parents is set against a sweeping portrait of modern London as a city remade by dirty money, deregulation and an underworld that operates in plain sight. Critics are saying this may be Patrick Radden Keefe’s best book to date.

In 1986, all 11-year-old Genya wants is to pass the entrance exam for Kyiv's prestigious art school. Then the reactor at Chernobyl explodes. Genya's family evacuates the city, and her exam and her future are suddenly uncertain. Yevgenia Nayberg’s graphic memoir, Chernobyl, Life, and Other Disasters, captures her childhood memories of Soviet life for middle grade readers.

Growing up in France as the daughter of Hmong refugees, Vicky Lyfoung discovered that nobody, including herself, knew much about the Hmong people. Hmong: A Graphic History is her answer to that ignorance, tracing the history of the Hmong from their origins as nomadic mountain people in ancient China. The book traces centuries of displacement—from the French colonization to the wars that tore through Laos, the refugee camps and finally the diaspora that scattered Hmong communities across the world. This is an accessible, illuminating and deeply personal story for teen readers.

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Explore the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) collection at Central Library.

The 2026 MLB season has officially started. Explore the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) collection at Central Library. Dive into player statistics, historical records, rare publications and deep research that baseball fans and historians love.

Whether you're tracking the evolution of the game or exploring local baseball history, SABR offers a rich trove of insights you won’t find anywhere else.

This resource is available exclusively at Central Library and cannot be accessed remotely or from any other branch location. Visit us in person to take full advantage of this exciting collection and celebrate the start of a new season!

SABR Collection

More book lists to explore.

April is National Poetry Month and Arab American Heritage Month.

Best Recent Poetry
Arab American Book Award Winners

New March Releases

March brings fresh reads—perfect for both warm and chilly spring days.

"March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb," as the saying goes. So far, we’ve already had snow and several perfect spring days. Luckily, no matter what the weather is doing, there are great books coming out this month to enjoy.

The "Number Five Wayside Inn and World Travel Hub" journeys the universe, housing all sorts of paranormal guests. When it lands on earth, it gets stuck due to the planet's lack of magic. Josie, a single mother and down on her luck, moves in with her son. Suddenly, they find themselves at home among vegan zombies, faeries and gargoyles. The hotel might be what Josie needs to restart her life, and she might be what the Inn needs to restart its magic. Elizabeth Everett’s Magic and Mischief at the Wayside Hotel is a delightful romance with a great cast of characters.

Kaede loves classic crimes stories but needs her grandfather’s help to solve real-world mysteries. During her visits, she brings him clues, maps and diagrams, and they work to solve the puzzle. His Lewy body dementia gives him realistic hallucinations that can help him find the solutions despite the heartbreaking reality of his ailing health. Tender and bittersweet, My Grandfather, the Master Detective by Masateru Konishi, translated by Louise Heal Kawai, is full of references to classic crime novels and is the first in a bestselling series in Japan.

The entertaining Dangerous Shore details the work of the civilians defending the East Coast during WWII. From the civilian pilots patrolling the waters to detect U-boats and guide rescue ships, to the mob bosses keeping spies off the docks, to the scientists breaking codes and developing new technology, Sara Vladic introduces a little-explored side of the American home front. Full of vivid detail, it introduces a wide cast of characters showing how involved and complex the effort was up and down the coast.

Sportswriter Simon Kuper has attended almost every world cup since Italy's in 1990. Mixing cultural history with memoir, World Cup Fever reflects on three decades' worth of tournaments and how they have grown and changed. Weaving game recaps and interviews with sharp observations about politics, globalization and identity, Kuper is always looking for the heart of soccer in the more recent tournaments that have been full of scandal. Delightful and engaging, it’s essential reading in the lead-up to the 2026 World Cup.

On April 18, 1906, Cora makes her way down to the docks, only for the earth to split open and trap her underground with Chi, a girl she just met. As the girls free themselves and make their way back to the surface, they reunite with Cora’s friend Oliver, but the trio must dodge fires, crumbling buildings and looters as they desperately try to reunite with their families. Jennifer A. Nielsen’s Magnitude is a gripping and thrilling middle grade adventure about surviving the Great San Francisco Earthquake.

Teen readers will want to pick up the darkly humorous and page-turning thriller Most Likely to Murder by Lish McBride. When last year’s yearbooks arrive at Meadowvale High, someone has changed the superlatives for the senior class. Initially written off as a tasteless prank, students become worried when a guidance counselor labeled "Most Likely to Sleep with the Fishes" ends up dead in a local lake. Rick and his best friend Martina, labeled "Homecoming’s Cutest Corpses," team up with other threatened students to find the killer. But just because the body count is mounting doesn’t mean you don’t still have homework.

Place Your Holds Now!

March into something new with Universal Class!

Universal Class is an easy way to explore a new hobby or build a fresh skill. With more than 500 self‑paced online courses, you can learn something practical, creative or just plain fun. All on your own schedule and from almost any device.

  • Creative arts like drawing, photography, knitting and writing
  • Hands‑on hobbies including gardening, baking and DIY home projects
  • Personal growth courses on mindfulness, organization and goal‑setting
  • Professional skills from computer basics to business communication

All courses include video lessons, assignments and optional certificates of completion. First time users must create an account to access Universal Class.

Universal Class

More book lists to explore.

Celebrate Pi (π) Day, March 14, with a delicious list of pie (🥧) books.

We're Here For Pie

Library Director Diane Kresh shares her picks for Women's History Month.

Diane Kresh's 2026 Picks

Remembering Civil Rights Icon, The Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson

Civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson (1941–2026), a protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate who led the Civil Rights Movement for decades after the revered leader's assassination, leaves behind a monumental legacy of advancing equality, dismantling oppressive systems and amplifying voices of the underserved.

Rev. Jesse Jackson (second from the right) speaking at a press conference, 1979, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-U9-37985- 14, photograph by Marion S. Trikosko

In 1965, the year after his college graduation, Jackson marched with Dr. King and others at Selma to demand Black voting rights. He was with Dr. King on April 4, 1968, when the civil rights leader was slain.

Jackson went on to found the organizations Operation PUSH in 1971, a tool to improve the economic conditions of Black communities, and the National Rainbow Coalition during his first presidential campaign in 1984, which sought equal rights for all Americans.

In 1996, both organizations merged to become the Rainbow Push Coalition. The diverse alliance of Blacks, Whites, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans and LGBTQIA+ people sought to protect, defend and gain civil rights by leveling the economic and educational playing fields and to promote peace and justice around the world.

Poster with headline “Vote Jesse Jackson '84 for president.” Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-42733

In the 1980s, Jackson ran twice for president (1984 and 1988) and paved the way for other democratic candidates, galvanizing both Black and White voters from diverse spectrums.

Jackson’s campaign and civil rights work would eventually pave the way for a more progressive wing of the Democratic Party and the election of the first Black president Barack Obama.

He led a lifetime of crusades in the United States and abroad, advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues from voting rights and job opportunities to education and health care.

In 2008, during a victory speech by former President-elect Barack Obama at Chicago’s Grant Park, Jackson was caught on camera with tears in his eyes. He later explained “… that he was thinking about all those who made it possible and who were not there. People like Ralph Abernathy, Dr. King, Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer… those in the movement in the South.”

Discover more about Jackson’s legacy and life from our collections.

Video segment featuring the late Rev. Jesse Jackson addressing the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

eCollections

Civil Rights History Book List

Discover the work and life of Rev. Jesse Jackson and many other civil rights icons.

New February Releases

Discover new releases to boost your Winter Reading.

January ended with snow and ice, but these new books coming out in February give us something to look forward to, regardless of the weather.

Amie Teller has been stuck in a time loop, reliving September 17 every day for two years. But one day she wakes up, and it’s actually tomorrow. As she struggles to remember how to face a new day, she learns that her neighbor was murdered yesterday. As someone who knows that day better than anyone, she’s determined to solve the case in Katie Siegel’s "Out of the Loop."

In 1920s Montreal, Agnes Aubert runs her cat shelter with meticulous care and has absolutely no tolerance for magicians. But the only space she can afford contains a covert magic shop in the basement, run by an infamous and irritating magician who’s also allergic to cats. As they face a police investigation and a threat that could destroy the city, they must form an uneasy truce and Agnes needs to decide how much chaos, and love, she can let into her life in "Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter" by Heather Fawcett.

From a 19th century maker of handmade playing cards to one of the most influential entertainment companies in the world, Nintendo’s story is anything but conventional. "Super Nintendo" by Keza MacDonald traces the company’s evolution through the people, ideas and games that reshaped how the world plays. Part cultural history, part love letter to play, this energetic and deeply researched history captures how a quirky company built on experimentation and risk-taking came to enchant generations of players and continues to shape what games can be.

For more than a decade, Joseph Stalin waged a relentless, secret war against his most dangerous rival: the exiled revolutionary Leon Trotsky. In "The Death of Trotsky," Josh Ireland traces the global manhunt that followed Trotsky from Europe to a guarded compound in Mexico City, where the long pursuit ended in August 1940, with a single, devastating blow from an ice pick. Moving between Moscow, Paris and Mexico, Ireland reconstructs the deadly game of cat and mouse through a vivid cast of spies, artists, idealists and operatives, culminating in an unforgettable portrait of the Soviet agent who infiltrated Trotsky’s inner circle and carried out the assassination.

Henrietta Wood was born enslaved and emancipated as an adult, only to be kidnapped and sold back into bondage. When she was once again emancipated at the end of the Civil War, she sued the man who kidnapped her and won the largest reparations ever awarded to a formerly enslaved person in the United States. Combining Selene Castrovilla’s free verse text with Erin K. Robinson’s striking illustrations, "Twice Enslaved" is an illuminating biography for middle grade readers.

When Persepolis is abruptly removed from Chicago Public School classrooms and libraries, students at one high school are quick to recognize the bitter irony of banning a book about life under censorship. Inspired by the real 2013 CPS controversy, this powerful graphic novel follows an ensemble of teens as they grapple with the order, investigate how it happened and decide whether and how to resist. The teen graphic novel "Wake Now in the Fire" by Jarrett Dapier and illustrated by AJ Dungo captures the transformative power of collective action and the stakes of defending intellectual freedom.

Place Your Holds Now!

Celebrate George Washington’s birthday month with a premier resource from The University of Virginia Press. "The Papers of George Washington Digital Edition" unites five series and Washington’s complete diaries; 83 volumes of scholarship in one searchable platform. Browse content by date, author or recipient. Follow linked cross‑references and delve into the documents that shaped the early United States as we celebrate Arlington 250.

George Washington Papers

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