Origami Workshop: Bunny Bookmarks & Spring Tulips
2024-03-19 17:00 - 18:00 (America/New_York) | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
Join us for a free early Spring afternoon of learning the art of folding origami bunny bookmarks and Spring tulips! We will make the cutest little bunny corner bookmarks to use for Spring reading. Make extras for Easter baskets! Additionally, we will learn to fold origami tulips.

Sign Language for Babies & Toddlers
2024-03-20 14:00 - 14:30 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
Our Collegedale neighbor and library patron Ms. Sharon will be here to teach us some of the basics of ASL communication. She will demonstrate greetings, basic words and emotions in order to greet our deaf friends in the community. Have you ever wished you could sign welcoming communications when greeting deaf or hard of hearing neighbors, classmates, church friends, etc? If so, join Ms. Sharon for a small taste of ASL communications!

String Theory
2024-03-23 15:00 - 16:00, 2024-04-20 15:00 - 16:00, 2024-05-18 15:00 - 16:00 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
Bring any style of needlework project (knit, crochet, cross stitch, embroidery…) to this informal gathering and talk about books, recipes, and whatever else strikes your fancy while you work.

Paws to Read with Therapy Dog
2024-03-26 16:00 - 17:00, 2024-04-23 16:00 - 17:00 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
Meet Atreyu! This pup is all ears and ready to hear you read to him during our Paws to Read hour. Pick a book from our shelves and read to Atreyu or visit with him. If you are shy around dogs, you can watch Atreyu while you do the small craft provided. For safety, we will limit the number of people in the room with Atreyu at one time.

Fiction Addiction Book Club: A Quiet Life by Ethan Joetta
2024-03-26 17:00 - 18:00 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
From the author of A Little Hope —a Read with Jenna Bonus Pick—comes another “heartwarming, character-driven” ( Booklist ) life-affirming novel about three individuals whose lives intersect in unforeseen ways.
Set in a close-knit suburb in the grip of winter, A Quiet Life follows three people grappling with loss and finding a tender wisdom in their grief.
Chuck Ayers used to look forward to nothing so much as his annual trip to Hilton Head with his wife, Cat—that yearly taste of relaxation they’d become accustomed to after a lifetime of working and raising two children. Now, just months after Cat’s death, Chuck finds that he can’t let go of her belongings—her favorite towel, the sketchbooks in her desk drawer—as he struggles to pack for a trip he can’t imagine taking without her.
Ella Burke delivers morning newspapers and works at a bridal shop to fill her days while she anxiously awaits news—any piece of information—about her missing daughter. Ella adjusts to life in a new apartment and answers every call on her phone, hoping her daughter will reach out.
After the sudden death of her father, Kirsten Bonato set aside her veterinary school aspirations, finding comfort in the steady routine of working at an animal shelter. But as time passes, old dreams and new romantic interests begin to surface—and Kirsten finds herself at another crossroads.
In this beautiful and profoundly moving novel, three parallel narratives converge in poignant and unexpected ways, as each character bravely presses onward, trying to recover something they have lost. Emotionally riveting and infused with hope, “the soothing tone and warm worldview of this grown-up bedtime story will be good for what ails you” (Kirkus Reviews).
Ethan Joella teaches English and psychology at the University of Delaware and specializes in community writing workshops. His work has appeared in River Teeth, The Cimarron Review, The MacGuffin, Delaware Beach Life, and Third Wednesday. He is the author of A Little Hope, which was a Read with Jenna Bonus Selection and A Quiet Life. He lives in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, with his wife and two daughters.

Collegedale Family BINGO Night
2024-04-02 17:00 - 18:00 | West Room City Hall, 4910 Swinyar Dr, Collegedale, TN, 37363
BINGO will play in rounds and is open to all ages! We will play for one hour and winners for each round will win small prizes. No entry fee. The library will provide the Bingo playing cards and plastic chips. We hope to see you there.

Solar Eclipse Viewing Party
2024-04-08 13:30 - 14:30 | TN
We will celebrate our partial view of the solar eclipse here in Eastern Tennessee at the library. Participants will receive a pair of solar eclipse viewing glasses (funded by a NASA STEM grant) with an informational handout on safe viewing practices. The community is also invited to enjoy “celestial” snacks, check out some “out of this world” books and create some awesome souvenirs: galaxy jars, commemorative April 2024 Eclipse buttons and velvet bookmarks with silver sun charms.

Adult Craft: Spring Harvest Baskets
2024-04-16 17:00 - 18:15 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
We will be assembling and painting wooden berry/fruit baskets for this month’s Adult Craft project. We will also use modge podge to add pretty details onto the baskets to create the effect of hand-painting. Spring starts the fruit harvesting season and these cute little baskets are pretty for displaying fruits/berries, vegetables, candies, etc. as a table centerpiece.

Basic Sign Language for Babies and Toddlers
2024-04-17 14:00 - 14:30 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
Join our Collegedale neighbor and library patron Ms. Sharon will be here to teach us some of the basics of ASL communication to toddlers and baby + their parent, grandparent or other guardian. She will demonstrate greetings, basic words and emotions in order to allow our youngest patrons to communicate before developing their verbal skills. Join Ms. Sharon for a small taste of ASL communications! This activity is free to the community and no library card is required for participation.

One-on-One with a Financial Advisor
2024-04-17 17:00 - 20:00, 2024-05-07 17:30 - 18:30 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
The Library is offering One-on-One sessions with Anthony Young who is a financial advisor from Thrivent, a non-profit financial organization. 30 minute sessions are free and private in our meeting room. Getting your finances in order isn’t always easy or clear. That’s why Anthony is here to provide the expertise and support you need. Whether you’re just starting out or preparing for a meaningful retirement, you deserve personalized financial guidance driven by what’s important to you. Together, we’ll assess your financial picture and explore how you can.
There are 4 sessions available starting at 5:00 PM: 5:00, 5:30, 6:00 and 6:30. Sessions are free, but limited. Please register for a session (only one session per person). If you need to cancel, please let us know so we can contact someone on the waiting list. *No products will be sold*
Pre-register today to reserve a spot!

Local Author Visit: Kimberly Brock's The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare
2024-04-21 14:00 - 15:30 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
Join the Collegedale Friends of the Library as they host local author Kimberly Brock who will discuss her book – The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare.
The fate of the world is often driven by the curiosity of a girl. What happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke remains a mystery, but the women who descended from Eleanor Dare have long known that the truth lies in what she left behind: a message carved onto a large stone and the contents of her treasured commonplace book. Brought from England on Eleanor’s fateful voyage to the New World, her book was passed down through the fifteen generations of daughters who followed as they came of age. Thirteen-year-old Alice had been next in line to receive it, but her mother’s tragic death fractured the unbroken legacy and the Dare Stone and the shadowy history recorded in the book faded into memory. Or so Alice hoped. In the waning days of World War II, Alice is a young widow and a mother herself when she is unexpectedly presented with her birthright: the deed to Evertell, her abandoned family home and the history she thought forgotten. Determined to sell the property and step into a future free of the past, Alice returns to Savannah with her own thirteen-year-old daughter, Penn, in tow. But when Penn’s curiosity over the lineage she never knew begins to unveil secrets from beneath every stone and bone and shell of the old house and Eleanor’s book is finally found, Alice is forced to reckon with the sacrifices made for love and the realities of their true inheritance as daughters of Eleanor Dare. In this sweeping tale from award-winning author Kimberly Brock, the answers to a real-life mystery may be found in the pages of a story that was always waiting to be written. Praise for The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare : “From the haunting first line, The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare transports the reader to a mysterious land, time and family . . . the captivating women of the Dare legacy must find their true inheritance hiding behind the untold secrets.” — Patti Callahan , New York Times bestselling author
Kimberly Brock is the bestselling author of The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare and her award-winning debut, The River Witch. She is the founder of Tinderbox Writers Workshop and has served as a guest lecturer for many regional and national writing workshops including at the Pat Conroy Literary Center. She lives outside of Atlanta with her husband and three children.
To learn more, visit her website at
https://kimberlybrockbooks.com

Earth Day Park Clean-Up
2024-04-22 16:00 - 17:00 | TN
In collaboration with Collegedale Parks and Recreation, we welcome Earth Day! This clean up will focus on educating, encouraging and enabling the community to come together and eradicate litter around our parks. We will supply gloves, trash bags, and a recycled gift during this program. We will also be making seed bombs that are filled with native wildflower seeds. All ages are welcomed!
This will be a sunshine event only.

Origami Workshop: Earth Day!
2024-04-23 17:00 - 18:00 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
Join us for this Spring Earth Day-themed origami workshop with Mrs. Shirley – where we will learn the art of folding “out of this world” origami designs! We will make a really cool origami star as well as other worldly designs.

Chattanooga Symphony Wind Quintet
2024-04-24 11:00 - 12:00 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
The Chattanooga Symphony Wind Quintet is back in the library! Come enjoy the CSO Wind Quintet as they introduce the instruments of the orchestra and basic musical concepts. This is a fun, free event open to anyone in the community who would like to pop on by and listen to our fabulous local symphony as they give back to the community.

Basic Sign Language for Adults, Teens & Tweens
2024-04-24 17:00 - 18:45 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States

Crime Reads Book Club: The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
2024-04-27 15:00 - 16:00 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
Agatha Christie’s debut novel was also the first to feature Hercule Poirot, her famously eccentric Belgian detective.
A refugee of the Great War, Poirot has settled in England near Styles Court, the country estate of his wealthy benefactor, the elderly Emily Inglethorp. When Emily is poisoned and the authorities are baffled, Poirot puts his prodigious sleuthing skills to work. Suspects are plentiful, including the victim’s much younger husband, her resentful stepsons, her longtime hired companion, a young family friend working as a nurse, and a London specialist on poisons who just happens to be visiting the nearby village.
All of them have secrets they are desperate to keep, but none can outwit Poirot as he navigates the ingenious red herrings and plot twists that contribute to Agatha Christie’s well-deserved reputation as the queen of mystery.
Librarian’s note: the first fifteen novels in the Hercule Poirot series are 1) The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 1920; 2) The Murder on the Links, 1923; 3) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, 1926; 4) The Big Four, 1927; 5) The Mystery of the Blue Train, 1928; 6) Peril at End House, 1932; 7) Lord Edgware Dies, 1933; 8) Murder on the Orient Express, 1934; 9) Three Act Tragedy, 1935; 10) Death in the Clouds, 1935; 11) The A.B.C. Murders, 1936; 12) Murder in Mesopotamia, 1936; 13) Cards on the Table, 1936; 14) Dumb Witness, 1937; and 15) Death on the Nile, 1937. These are just the novels; Poirot also appears in this period in a play, Black Coffee, 1930, and two collections of short stories, Poirot Investigates, 1924, and Murder in the Mews, 1937.
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world’s longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the “Golden Age of Detective Fiction”, Christie has been called the “Queen of Crime”. She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.

Fiction Addiction Book Club: The Book of Lost Name
2024-04-30 17:00 - 18:00 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.
The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?
As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.
An engaging and evocative novel reminiscent of The Lost Girls of Paris and The Alice Network, The Book of Lost Names is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of bravery and love in the face of evil.
Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling and #1 international bestselling author of THE BOOK OF LOST NAMES, THE WINEMAKER’S WIFE, and a dozen other novels that have been translated into numerous languages and sold all over the world.

May the Fourth Be With You
2024-05-04 16:00 - 19:00 | Collegedale Commons, 4910 Swinyar Dr., Collegedale, TN, 37315, United States
Collegedale Parks and Recreation is bringing back their “May the Fourth be With You” event on Saturday, May 4. The event is for all ages and families to join other fans of the movie Star Wars in an evening of fun activities. Participants will learn agility and basic combat, test their skills, enjoy crafts, take photos and purchase themed beverages. “Those who attend this event can receive instruction from Greg Roy’s Martial Arts, meet and greet with characters, make crafts with the Collegedale Public Library and purchase themed drinks from Appaloosa Moon,” said Christina Clark, Collegedale Parks and Recreation supervisor. This event is free and no registration is required to attend. Participants will need to report to the Collegedale Commons at 4750 Swinyar Dr. on May 4 from 4-7 p.m. “We are happy to announce that we have opened this event to all ages and families,” said Ms. Clark. “Once again, we will be looking to hand out the title of Best Costume and hope that everyone joins in dressing in their best Star Wars outfit.” For additional information, contact Collegedale Parks and Recreation at 423-468-1971 or email parksandrec@collegedaletn.gov.

Collegedale Family BINGO Night
2024-05-07 17:30 - 18:30 | West Room City Hall, 4910 Swinyar Dr, Collegedale, TN, 37363
Collegedale Public Library and Collegedale Parks and Recreation will partner up to host the ever popular monthly BINGO again in May! We will play in rounds and this event is open to all ages! We will play for one hour and winners for each round will win small prizes. There is no entry fee and games are played for prizes only. We will provide the Bingo playing cards, the BINGO playing chips and the fun. We hope to see you there.
This program is open to all community members, no library card requirement!
Location – Collegedale City Hall, West Room

Community Garden Planting Party
2024-05-08 16:00 - 17:00 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
Join us at our annual planting party for our Community Garden.Here is a chance to get your hands dirty and play in the dirt while helping us plant our new plants for this year’s harvest.The produce grown in these beds will be used for future programs.

Origami Workshop: Dinosaurs!
2024-05-14 17:00 - 18:00 | TN
Join us for this Dino-roar-some-themed workshop with our local Math teacher Ms. Shirley – where we will learn the art of folding a super cool origami dinosaur!
This free activity is open to all community members, no library card requirement!

Basic Sign Language for Babies and Toddlers
2024-05-15 14:00 - 14:30 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
Our Collegedale neighbor and library patron Ms. Sharon will be here to teach us some of the basics of ASL communication to toddlers and baby + their parent, grandparent or other guardian. She will demonstrate greetings, basic words and emotions in order to allow our youngest patrons to communicate before developing their verbal skills. Join Ms. Sharon for a small taste of ASL communications!

Fiction Addiction Book Club: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
2024-05-15 16:00 - 17:00 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
*The Library will be adjusting the meeting time for Fiction Addiction during May-July to the third Wednesdays of each month at 4:00 PM (unless there is a state/national holiday that prevents us from meeting on the third Wednesdays).
Fiction Addiction Book Club will be discussing The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.
Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets? A novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived.
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.
Matt Haig is the author of novels such as The Midnight Library, How to Stop Time, The Humans, The Radleys, and the forthcoming The Life Impossible. He has also written books for children, such as A Boy Called Christmas, and the memoir Reasons to Stay Alive.

Community Service Activity: Packing Teen Hygiene Kits
2024-05-16 14:00 - 15:30 | West Room City Hall, 4910 Swinyar Dr, Collegedale, TN, 37363
Join the Collegedale Public Library, Collegedale Parks & Recreation and the Samaritan Center for this awesome community service opportunity. We will be working together to pack Teen Survival Packs for local underserved teens to assist them with hygiene care and other personal care items. Any community members are invited to assist us with this mission, no library card requirement.

Introductory Mahjong for Adult Beginners
2024-05-16 17:30 - 18:45 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
Join us at the Collegedale Public Library for an introductory meeting of the new game sensation, Mahjong. This tile-based game dates back to 19th Century China with regional variants across Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. It is considered a game of skill, strategy and luck. We are hosting this meeting to allow local novice Mahjong players to be able to connect and introduce those interested but with no experience to the game. If connections are made – the hope is that a group of regular players can start playing rotating meeting locations.
This introductory session is for adult beginners (17+) who would like to learn more about the playing of mahjong. This program is open to anyone in the community with an interest, no library card requirement.

Local Author Visit: Nathaniel K. Gee’s The Business Proposal
2024-05-19 14:00 - 15:00 | Library Meeting Room, 9318 Apison Pike, Collegedale, TN, United States
Join the Collegedale Friends of the Library as they host local author Nathaniel K. Gee who will discuss his book – The Business Proposal.
Byron loves his job as a marriage counselor but is disappointed when he begins to lose clients because of his marital status. Julie is similarly frustrated with the world’s view that she must not be happy because of her lack of a husband. Byron devises a simple answer, an ad in the paper asking for a wife. Julie thinks it’s crazy but ultimately realizes it might be exactly what she needs. It works perfectly and both are happily single, but married. Julie isn’t getting set up and Byron can even tell his clients that to help his marriage he makes sure to give his wife some space. But the honeymoon phase wears off and in time they find that always making excuses for why their spouse isn’t easy. They begin to invite each other to activities to avoid excuses, and before long Byron discovers he has fallen in love with his wife. She however has decided she wants to find real love and thinks Charlie might be the answer. She asks for a divorce. Can Byron do what he has asked hundreds of couples to do and fight for his marriage?
About the Author: The only thing Nathaniel Gee loves more than writing is supporting his wife and nine children, which is why he works as a Dam Safety Engineer. His determination to become a writer came from an inspirational school counselor who said that he would be a much better engineer than a writer. He was a well-loved writer of his local newspaper and continues writing on his blog www.thegeebrothers.com, professional journals in Dam Safety, and in his favorite genres-romantic comedy and detective fiction. He also has a YouTube channel, Geelightful, where his children are far more popular than he is!
