Recommended Reads
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The Rest of Our Lives
FINALIST FOR THE 2025 BOOKER PRIZE
“Feels less like reading a novel and more like sitting in a car beside a dear friend as he navigates the road up ahead. A profoundly moving experience.” —Ann Patchett
“Deeply human...a beautifully quiet and devastating book.” —Sarah Jessica Parker
A triumphantly life-affirming road trip novel about marriage, middle-age, and a man at a crossroads in his life.
When Tom Layward’s wife had an affair twelve years ago, he resolved to leave her as soon as his youngest child left the nest. Now, while driving his college-bound daughter to Pittsburgh, he remembers his promise to himself. He is also on the run from his own health issues and a forced leave from work.
So, rather than returning to his wife in Westchester, Tom keeps driving west, with the vague plan of visiting people from his past—an old college friend, his ex-girlfriend, his brother, his son—en route, maybe, to California. He’s moving towards a future he hasn’t even envisioned yet while he considers his past and the choices he’s made that have brought him to this particular present. Pitch-perfect, tender, and keenly observed, The Rest of Our Lives is a story about what to do when the rest of your life is only just the beginning of your story. -
Between Sisters
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The renowned author of The Women vividly explores the intricate bonds of sisterhood and family.
“[Kristin] Hannah [brings] snap and a lot of warmth to a familiar lesson: that contentment comes from accepting each other’s flaws.”—People
Years ago, Meghann Dontess made a terrible choice that cost her everything, including the love of her sister, Claire. Now, Meghann is a highly successful attorney who doesn’t believe in intimacy—until she meets the one man who can change her mind. Claire Cavenaugh has fallen in love for the first time in her life. As her wedding day approaches, she prepares to face her strong-willed older sister. Reunited after more than two decades apart, these two women who believe they have nothing in common will try to become what they never were: a family.
Tender, funny, bittersweet, and moving, Between Sisters skillfully explores the profound joys and sorrows shared by sisters, the mistakes made in the name of love, and the promise of redemption—all beautifully told by acclaimed author Kristin Hannah.
“Enormously entertaining . . . Hannah has a nice ear for dialogue and a knack for getting the reader inside the characters’ heads.”—The Seattle Times
“Hannah writes of love with compassion and conviction.”—Luanne Rice -
Gone Before Goodbye
AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
An unforgettable suspense novel that combines the storytelling talents of Academy Award-winning actor Reese Witherspoon and internationally bestselling author Harlan Coben. Gone Before Goodbye is the story of a woman trapped in a deadly conspiracy--where uncovering the truth could cost her everything.
Maggie McCabe is teetering on the brink. A highly skilled and renowned Army combat surgeon, she has always lived life at the edge, where she could make the most impact. And it was all going to plan ... until it wasn't.
Upside down after a devastating series of tragedies leads to her medical license being revoked, Maggie has lost her purpose, but not her nerve or her passion. At her lowest point, she is thrown a lifeline by a former colleague, an elite plastic surgeon whose anonymous clientele demand the best care money can buy, as well as absolute discretion.
Halfway across the globe, sequestered in the lap of luxury and cutting-edge technology, one of the world's most mysterious men requires unconventional medical assistance. Desperate, and one of the few surgeons in the world skilled enough to take this job, Maggie enters his realm of unspeakable opulence and fulfills her end of the agreement. But when the patient suddenly disappears while still under her care, Maggie must become a fugitive herself--or she will be the next one who is ... Gone Before Goodbye -
Hamnet
NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Of all the stories that argue and speculate about Shakespeare’s life ... here is a novel ... so gorgeously written that it transports you." —The Boston Globe
In 1580’s England, during the Black Plague a young Latin tutor falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman in this “exceptional historical novel” (The New Yorker) and best-selling winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Agnes is a wild creature who walks her family’s land with a falcon on her glove and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer, understanding plants and potions better than she does people. Once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose career on the London stage is taking off when his beloved young son succumbs to sudden fever.
A luminous portrait of a marriage, a shattering evocation of a family ravaged by grief and loss, and a tender and unforgettable re-imagining of a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, and whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays of all time, Hamnet is mesmerizing, seductive, impossible to put down—a magnificent leap forward from one of our most gifted novelists.
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People We Meet on Vacation
NOW A NETFLIX FILM! • From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Funny Story comes a sparkling novel that will leave you with the warm, hazy afterglow usually reserved for the best vacations.
Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.
Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.
Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven't spoken since.
Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.
Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong? -
The Storm
HURRICANE SEASON CAN BE MURDER • A January 2026 Indie Next Pick • "Sexy and full of surprises, The Storm is an ideal curl-up-by-the-fire read." —Real Simple
St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama is famous for three things: the deadly hurricanes that regularly sweep into town, the Rosalie Inn, a century-old hotel that’s survived every one of those storms, and Lo Bailey, the local girl infamously accused of the murder of her lover, political scion Landon Fitzroy, during Hurricane Marie in 1984.
When Geneva Corliss, the current owner of the Rosalie Inn, hears a writer is coming to town to research the crime that put St. Medard’s Bay on the map, she’s less interested in solving a whodunnit than in how a successful true crime book might help the struggling inn’s bottom line. But to her surprise, August Fletcher doesn’t come to St. Medard’s Bay alone. With him is none other than Lo Bailey herself. Lo says she’s returned to her hometown to clear her name once and for all, but the closer Geneva gets to both Lo and August, the more she wonders if Lo is actually back to settle old scores.
As the summer heats up and another monster storm begins twisting its way towards St. Medard’s Bay, Geneva learns that some people can be just as destructive—and as deadly—as any hurricane, and that the truth of what happened to Landon Fitzroy may not be the only secret Lo is keeping... -
The First Time I Saw Him
A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Selection
Laura Dave continues Hannah Hall’s pulse-pounding journey in the riveting and deeply moving sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling blockbuster and Apple TV+ show, The Last Thing He Told Me.
How far would you go for a second chance?
Five years after her husband, Owen, disappeared, Hannah Hall and her stepdaughter, Bailey, have settled into a new life in Southern California. Together, they’ve forged a relationship with Bailey’s grandfather Nicholas and are putting the past behind them.
But when Owen shows up at Hannah’s new exhibition, she knows that she and Bailey are in danger again.
Hannah and Bailey are forced to go on the run in a relentless race to keep their past from catching up with them. As a thrilling drama unfolds, Hannah risks everything to get Bailey to safety—and finds there just might be a way back to Owen and their long-awaited second chance.
A gripping, rich, and deeply moving novel about the power of forgiveness, The First Time I Saw Him picks up right where the epilogue for the “genuinely moving” (The New York Times) The Last Thing He Told Me left off, giving readers the eagerly awaited and absolutely exhilarating sequel to Dave’s global blockbuster. -
The Housemaid
"Welcome to the family," Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I'll soon learn that the Winchesters' secrets are far more dangerous than my own...
Every day I clean the Winchesters' beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.
I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew's handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it's hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina's life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.
I only try on one of Nina's pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it's like. But she soon finds out... and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it's far too late.
But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don't know who I really am.
They don't know what I'm capable of...
An unbelievably twisty read that will have you glued to the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves The Woman in the Window, The Wife Between Us and The Girl on the Train won't be able to put this down!
Read what everyone's saying about The Housemaid:
"I could NOT put it down!... An incredible roller-coaster ride... This book left me hungry for more and I could not believe the ending!!" Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"One wild ride!... So many twists and turns... I was hooked right away - I even read my Kindle while waiting in my kid's school pick-up line so I wouldn't have to put this book down!... addictive... pure perfection!" Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Terrific! Finished The Housemaid in one night, totally compulsively readable... the ending packs a wallop!" NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Wow what an amazing book! I couldn't put this down until the very last page... a perfect five stars. This one is by far my favorite book by this author yet." Bookishfirst, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"I've yet to read a book by Freida McFadden that didn't blow me away! I finished this in one sitting, couldn't tear my eyes away... I did not see the plot twist coming at all! The ending was so satisfying but left me wanting even more." @bookscoffeemorebooks, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Blowback: The Untold Story of the FBI and the Oklahoma City Bombing
The breakout investigative work on the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing featured on The Tucker Carlson Show, Newt’s World, Human Events Daily with Jack Posobiec, The Drill Down with Peter Schweizer, ZeroHedge, Just the News, Judicial Watch’s On Watch, and Federalist Radio Hour, among others.
“This isn’t just history rhyming. This is history repeating itself.” — Senator Ron Johnson
“Astonishing story…deserves to be a bestseller.” — Newt Gingrich
“It lays out piece by piece a staggering case.” — Jack Posobiec
“A great book.” — Tucker Carlson
Tragedy unfolded on April 19, 1995, when a massive bomb exploded in America’s Heartland, killing 168 people, including 15 children in their daycare center.
Thirty years later, it still stands as America’s deadliest domestic terror attack.
History says the Oklahoma City bombing was a lone-wolf terror by Timothy McVeigh, a twenty-six-year-old Gulf War Army veteran.
Yet the FBI never captured the second suspect who rode next to McVeigh in the bomb truck. Soon the Bureau canceled its global manhunt for “John Doe 2,” claiming twenty-four eyewitnesses who saw him with McVeigh were mistaken.
None of this rings true to award-winning journalist Margaret Roberts. As former news director of America’s Most Wanted, she worked high-profile manhunts alongside the FBI. How could so many witnesses be wrong?
Blowback chronicles Roberts’s investigation into a baffling prison murder mystery wrapped inside the Oklahoma City bombing case. In pursuit of answers, she conducts journalism’s only face-to-face prison interviews with McVeigh co-conspirator Terry Nichols.
Contrary to the official story of lone-wolf terror, Roberts uncovers evidence of a sprawling neo-Nazi plot behind the bombing in which the FBI played a hidden role. Then, while covering its tracks, the FBI allowed terror suspects to walk free, denied the bombing victims justice, and hid the truth from all of us.
After an FBI whistleblower steps forward, Roberts puts the puzzle together, though one burning mystery remains: The FBI has kept surveillance videotape of McVeigh’s accomplice locked away all these years. Is John Doe 2 the FBl’s guilty secret? -
When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows . . .: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power and Everyday Life
**Selected by Bill Gates as One of Five Books to Read This Winter**
From one of the world’s most celebrated intellectuals, a brilliantly insightful work that explains how we think about each other’s thoughts about each other’s thoughts, ad infinitum. It sounds impossible, but Steven Pinker shows that we do it all the time. This awareness, which we experience as something that is public or “out there,” is called common knowledge, and it has a momentous impact on our social, political, and economic lives.
Common knowledge is necessary for coordination, for making arbitrary but complementary choices like driving on the right, using paper currency, and coalescing behind a political leader or movement. It’s also necessary for social coordination: everything from rendezvousing at a time and place to speaking the same language to forming enduring relationships of friendship, romance, or authority. Humans have a sixth sense for common knowledge, and we create it with signals like laughter, tears, blushing, eye contact, and blunt speech.
But people also go to great lengths to avoid common knowledge—to ensure that even if everyone knows something, they can’t know that everyone else knows they know it. And so we get rituals like benign hypocrisy, veiled bribes and threats, sexual innuendo, and pretending not to see the elephant in the room.
Pinker shows how the hidden logic of common knowledge can make sense of many of life’s enigmas: financial bubbles and crashes, revolutions that come out of nowhere, the posturing and pretense of diplomacy, the eruption of social media shaming mobs and academic cancel culture, the awkwardness of a first date. Artists and humorists have long mined the intrigues of common knowledge, and Pinker liberally uses their novels, jokes, cartoons, films, and sitcom dialogues to illuminate social life’s tragedies and comedies. Along the way he answers questions like:
- Why do people hoard toilet paper at the first sign of an emergency?
- Why are Super Bowl ads filled with ads for crypto?
- Why, in American presidential primary voting, do citizens typically select the candidate they believe is preferred by others rather than their favorite?
- Why did Russian authorities arrest a protester who carried a blank sign?
- Why is it so hard for nervous lovers to say goodbye at the end of a phone call?
- Why does everyone agree that if we were completely honest all the time, life would be unbearable?
Consistently riveting in explaining the paradoxes of human behavior, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows… invites us to understand the ways we try to get into each other’s heads and the harmonies, hypocrisies, and outrages that result. -
Skinnytaste High Protein: 100 Healthy, Simple Recipes to Fuel Your Day
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 100 easy, high-protein recipes you can depend on for every meal of the day from New York Times bestselling author Gina Homolka
Gina Homolka, founder of the longstanding go-to healthy eating blog Skinnytaste, is an expert at creating super-simple, weeknight friendly, flavor-packed recipes that meet all your dietary needs, and in Skinnytaste High Protein, she delivers on that promise with 100 high-protein meals. Whether you’re looking for creative ways to incorporate more protein into your diet, go-to recipes to jazz up your favorite proteins, or ideas for nutritionally balanced meals that will keep you satiated, Gina has you covered. Each recipe packs at least thirty grams of protein per serving (including options for vegetarian, dairy-free, and gluten-free eaters) and there are plenty of one-pot, meal-prep friendly, and streamlined recipes for every meal of the day.
Start your day with a Mango-Blueberry Smoothie or Chicken Chorizo Breakfast Tacos. Turn hearty proteins into a complete meal with Grilled Chicken Thighs and Charred Corn Summer Salad, Sheet Pan Tajin Salmon Fish Tacos, and Seared Steaks with Dijon-Mushroom Sauce and Roasted Asparagus. Gina also offers protein-boosted versions of classics like a Monte Cristo Omelet Sandwich or PB+J Breakfast Crepes. And if you need a midday protein boost, prep a Spicy Salmon Roll or Chicken Avocado Salad Chip Dip.
With nutritional information included for each recipe and recipes labeled for gluten-free and dairy-free ingredients, Skinnytaste High Protein will be your go-to resource for nutritious meals that pack a protein punch. -
How to Test Negative for Stupid
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
One of the most distinctive and funny politicians, Senator John Kennedy (the one from Louisiana)--hailed by Politico as "America's most quotable Senator"--offers his perceptive (and hilarious) takes on the ridiculousness of political life in this scathingly witty takedown of Washington and its elite denizens.
How to Test Negative for Stupid offers the Senator's tongue-in-cheek guidebook through Washington, punctuated by his thoughts on various issues and humorous stories about life from Louisiana politics and inside the Senate.
From the mind--and mouth--of "America's Most Quotable Senator":
- "Always be yourself . . . unless you suck."
- "I say this gently: This is why the aliens won't talk to us."
- "If you trust government, you obviously failed history class."
- "I believe that our country was founded by geniuses, but it's being run by idiots."
- "Always follow your heart . . . but take your brain with you."
- "I'm not going to Bubble Wrap it: The water in Washington, D.C., won't clear up until you get the pigs out of the creek."
- "I have the right to remain silent but not the ability."
- "Common sense is illegal in Washington, D.C., I know. I've seen it firsthand."
- "I believe that we are going to have to get some new conspiracy theories. All the old ones turned out to be true."
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Still Me: A Neuroscientist's Guide To Caring For Someone With Dementia
AN IRISH TIMES BESTSELLER
'What everybody needs to read... a deep and powerful understanding of what the person who has dementia is going through' - Davina McCall
'A beautifully written, personal, empathetic and immensely practical book' – Dr Harry Barry, GP, author and mental health advocate
The essential toolkit to navigating dementia, supporting loved ones and caring for yourself
Dementia is devastating. Almost a million people are currently living with the disease in the UK alone and this is set to triple by 2050. With family members often providing care, navigating treatment can be overwhelming. But there is life after diagnosis.
Still Me reframes the job of caring for someone with dementia as a partnership. Both you and your loved one deserve respect, support and the latest research to help you on your journey.
Top neuroscientist and bestselling author Dr Sabina Brennan combines her professional knowledge with her personal experience of caring for her mother with dementia. With a human-rights approach that validates everyone's experience and dignity, she offers:
– A self-care plan for care partners to cope with demands and optimise the caregiving experience
– Practical advice on how to manage challenging symptoms, stimulate cognitive function and encourage a brain-healthy lifestyle
– Evidence-based therapies to improve both you and your relative's quality of life.
Dementia can steal many things, but it doesn't have to take away the simple pleasures of life. Shifting the focus from the disease to the person, Still Me reminds you that your relative is still there and that you, as a care partner, are just as important. -
The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald
For three decades following World War II, the Great Lakes overtook Europe as the epicenter of global economic strength. The region was the beating heart of the world economy, possessing all the power and prestige Silicon Valley does today. And no ship represented the apex of the American Century better than the 729-foot-long Edmund Fitzgerald--the biggest, best, and most profitable ship on the Lakes.
But on November 10, 1975, as the "storm of the century" threw 100 mile-per-hour winds and 50-foot waves on Lake Superior, the Mighty Fitz found itself at the worst possible place, at the worst possible time. When she sank, she took all 29 men onboard down with her, leaving the tragedy shrouded in mystery for a half century.
In The Gales of November, award-winning journalist John U. Bacon presents the definitive account of the disaster, drawing on more than 100 interviews with the families, friends, and former crewmates of those lost. Bacon explores the vital role Great Lakes shipping played in America's economic boom, the uncommon lives the sailors led, the sinking's most likely causes, and the heartbreaking aftermath for those left behind--"the wives, the sons, and the daughters," as Gordon Lightfoot sang in his unforgettable ballad.
Focused on those directly affected by the tragedy, The Gales of November is both an emotional tribute to the lives lost and a propulsive, page-turning narrative history of America's most-mourned maritime disaster.
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The Complete Anti-Inflammatory Cookbook: Optimize Health, Boost Your Immune System, Promote Longevity
400+ dietician-backed recipes prove how easy, delicious, and universally beneficial an anti-inflammatory diet can be!
Complete nutritional info, dairy- and gluten-free options, and meal prep tips make this the most comprehensive anti-inflammatory cookbook yet.
Eating to help lessen chronic inflammation is something anyone can embrace to optimize long-term health and strengthen the body's defenses against many chronic illnesses, from cardiovascular disease to diabetes. Whether you're looking to keep inflammation at bay or reduce existing symptoms, this beginner-friendly collection of dietician-backed recipes is the only cookbook you need to embark on this diet shift. You'll find scrumptious dishes for every meal of the day—from frittatas and fish tacos to stir-fries and snacks & drinks—chock-full of anti-inflammatory powerhouses like whole grains, beneficial fats, lean proteins, and a rainbow of vegetables. With this book, you'll discover how simple and satisfying an anti-inflammatory eating pattern can be.
- Dos and don'ts of inflammation: RDN and Cook for Your Gut Health co-author Alicia Romano coaches you through anti-inflammatory cooking and how to get the good antioxidants, fiber, and omega-3s your body benefits from.
- Flexible recipes and ingredients support your unique goals: Make-ahead guidance, easy swaps to make dishes gluten- or dairy-free, and nutritional info make these recipes fit seamlessly into your life.
- Re-engineers comfort dishes into inflammation fighters: We upped the nutrient density in our Turkey Shepherd's Pie, Chicken and Chard Enchiladas, and Gingery Turmeric Chicken Soup by packing in ingredients known to fight inflammation.
- Excites your palate with a global flavor pantry: Delight your taste buds with recipes inspired by vibrant eating traditions around the world, whether you’re craving Green Shakshuka, Fish Tagine, or Sweet Potato Noodles with Shiitakes and Spinach.
- Prioritizes simplicity, speed, and weeknight cooking: Cooking anti-inflammatory meals doesn’t have to be time-consuming. We streamlined for efficiency—leaning on widely available ingredients and shelf-stable goods.
Library Cards
The Marshall County Public Library offers three different card types in order to increase access to library services for all members of the local community. The Full-Time Resident Card gives full borrowing privileges and access to all digital services; the Temporary Resident Card allows patrons to check out up to three items at one time and has full access to digital services; and the Digital Access Card provides access to digital services only.
To learn which card is right for you, please see our Library Card Policy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Visit any of our branches or apply online. To apply for a full-time resident card, you will need a copy of your driver’s license with your current address. If your driver’s license does not have your current address, you may provide a piece of mail.
We love encouraging kids to read and use the library, so anyone of any age is allowed to have a library card.
Nope! Temporary and Digital Access cards are available to anyone. For a Full-Time Resident card, you must live in the Purchase Region or pay a one-time fee of $20.
You can search our physical collection here.
Of course! You can access your library account here. Your login will be your library card number, and your initial password should be your full phone number with no dashes or spaces. If you have difficulty logging into your account, please call 270-527-9969.
You can either log onto your online account, or fill out a Title Request Form.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is when the Marshall County Public Library borrows a book from another library system in order to check it out to one of our patrons. It can take up to two weeks for us to receive the material from the other library system.
- Audio Books: 35 per patron
- Books (NEW):10 per patron
- Books: 35 per patron
- CDs - Music: 10 per patron
- DVDs (NEW): 4 per patron
- DVDs: 10 per patron
- Games: 4 per patron
- Kits: 4 per patron
- Magazines: 10 per patron
- Audiobooks: 2 weeks, renewable 4 times
- Books (NEW): 2 weeks, renewable 1 time
- Books: 2 weeks, renewable 4 times
- CDs - Music: 2 weeks, renewable 4 times
- CDs - Software: weeks, renewable 4 times
- DVDs (NEW): 2 days, renewable 1 time
- DVDs: 2 weeks, renewable 4 times
- Games: 2 weeks, renewable 4 times
- Inter-Library Loans: 2 weeks, renewable 1 time unless the lending library declines approval
- Kits: 28 days, renewable 1 time
- Magazines: 2 weeks, renewable 4 times
- Other: 2 weeks, renewable limit based on each item
Your items will automatically renew as long as there are no holds and you have not exceeded the maximum renewals.
You can request Curbside Service through our online form or by calling 270-527-9969.
The Marshall County Public Library is a fine free library. Patrons will only have to pay for material if it is lost or damaged.
You can either visit any branch of the Marshall County Public Library to take care of lost or damaged fees.
To help you better understand the library’s collection, we have created this Parents’ Guide to Library Materials.