From the President: There is good news and bad news in the proposed city manager’s budget. The good news is that no branch libraries will be closed next year; however, it appears that the Arcadia Park branch will close in 2027-28. 72 people will lose their jobs and library hours for regular branches will be cut back to 44 per week.
This will happen unless the city council can find $3.3 million to restore to the budget for the library system.
For the Oak Lawn Library, you may have seen several improvements to the library this summer which include the public restrooms being reopened to the public in June and the front steps being repainted with rainbow colors in July. A privately funded mural will be painted on the front pillars of the library sometime in the next weeks with a completion date of September. Now that we know the library will stay open, the Oak Lawn Library Friends will continue our efforts to improve the branch.
We will be participating in the North Texas Day of Giving, which is September 17th, 2026, from 6 a.m. to 12 midnight. Early Giving starts on August 27th. This is our largest fundraiser of the year. You can access the Oak Lawn Library Friends page on the North Texas Day of Giving by using this link: Oak Lawn Library Friends | North Texas Giving Day September will mark the 97th anniversary of the establishment of our branch in Oak Lawn, which was the 2nd branch in the city of Dallas. Our website currently has 5,715 author pages. It covers new and old authors with author biographies and books in order of publication. It is updated with new authors on a weekly basis. Many of the authors added this year are first time authors from around the globe.
Some book recommendations for Fall 2026
Fiction: “The Black Country” by Alex Grecian. A 2nd novel in the Scotland Yard Murder series. Inspector Day and Sgt Hammersmith are sent to Northern England to investigate the disappearance of a small boy and his parents. They travel to a coal mining community where the mining has undermined the very foundations of the village which is now sinking into the ground. The townsfolk are unwilling to help find the boy or his family because they are involved in keeping a dark secret.
Non-Fiction: “The Last Dynasty” by Toby Wilkinson. A history of the Ptolemy’s who ruled Egypt for almost 300 years. Beginning with Ptolemy 1, to the end with Cleopatra the VII. It is an amazing story of family intrigue and maneuvering as Macedonians rule over millions of Egyptians. The various generations intermarried just like the Pharoh’s of ancient Egypt. The family charts came in handy in trying to remember who was related to whom since many of these family members reused the same name over the generations.