Litchfield Public Library has received a special gift!  We’re one of about 1,280 Carnegie Libraries across the United States that has received a $10,000 gift from Carnegie Corporation of New York in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.

Carnegie Libraries hold a special place in American history and in the hearts of generations of Americans. More than a century after philanthropist Andrew Carnegie helped fund the construction of 1,681 libraries nationwide – including the original Litchfield Public Library – we are still serving our community.

Learn more about this initiative and find our library on the Carnegie Libraries Across America map.

Basic federal tax forms and instructions are available on a table in the library’s entryway: 1040 and 1040-SR forms and instructions, plus 1040 and 1040-SR forms in Spanish. The Minnesota Revenue Department does not send the libraries any state forms. If you need a form that’s not available on the table, talk to a staff member for help printing what you need, or for a phone number to call the IRS or Minnesota Revenue so that they can mail you paper forms. Printouts cost 10 cents per page. Library staff cannot give any tax advice.

Ready to start thinking about spring? Come to a free workshop on starting seeds indoors! Two Meeker County Extension Master Gardeners will lead this casual program, teaching you the basics of starting plants indoors: a great way to work with Minnesota’s short growing season and a good way to save money on garden plants.

The class will be offered twice in the library’s meeting room on Tuesday, February 24: 2:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Attend the time that works best for your schedule. No need to sign up.

Litchfield Library’s seed library will be available for you to pick up a few small packets of seeds to get started!

Stop in and fill out a heart near the front desk this month and share what you love about your library!

Examples of the projects completed by the participants in January’s Adult Arts & Crafts class:

UPDATE: Class is full.

The February Adult Arts & Crafts project will be wooden hearts. This free program will be held on Thursday, February 26, at 6:30 p.m. Sign up by calling the Litchfield Library at 320-693-2483 or by stopping at the front desk. Registration opens on Monday, February 2, and the class always fills quickly. For adults only.

If you sign up and are unable to attend, please contact the library so that someone from the waiting list can attend.

Pioneerland Library System has released the lists of the top checkouts of 2025:

Top adult fiction

• The quiet librarian / Allen Eskens.
• The women / Kristin Hannah.
• Battle mountain / C.J. Box.
• Lethal prey / John Sandford.
• Hidden nature / Nora Roberts.
• The tenant / Freida McFadden.
• My friends : a novel / Fredrik Backman ; translated by Neil Smith.
• The boyfriend / Freida McFadden.
• Apostle’s Cove : a novel / William Kent Krueger.
• Spirit crossing : a novel / William Kent Krueger.

Top adult nonfiction

• The let them theory : a life-changing tool that millions of people can’t stop talking about / Mel Robbins.
• The anxious generation : how the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness / Jonathan Haidt.
• Gunflint falling : blowdown in the Boundary Waters / Cary J. Griffith.
• The ultimate Minnesota cookie book : 100 best recipes from the star Tribune’s Holiday Cookie contest / Lee Svitak Dean.
• The small and the mighty : twelve unsung Americans who changed the course of history, from the founding to the civil rights movement / Sharon McMahon.
• Framed : astonishing true stories of wrongful convictions / John Grisham ; Jim McCloskey.
• House of Kahmanns : a memoir : a story about family love and shattered bonds, about finding each other in the aftermath
• The house of my mother : a daughter’s quest for freedom / Shari Franke.
• Melania / [Melania Trump].
• Everything is tuberculosis : the history and persistence of our deadliest infection / John Green.

Top young adult fiction

• Sunrise on the reaping / Suzanne Collins.
• Tokyo guru:re. English
• Bleach / [story and art by Tite Kubo ; English adaptation, Lance Caselman ; translation, Joe Yamazaki].
• One piece / story and art by Eiichiro Oda.
• Yu yu hakusho. English
• The ballad of songbirds and snakes / Suzanne Collins.
• The summer I turned pretty / Jenny Han.
• The seven deadly sins / Nakaba Suzuki ; [translator, Christine Dashiell ; lettering, James Dashiell].
• Tokyo guru:re. English
• A good girl’s guide to murder / Holly Jackson.
• Powerless / Lauren Roberts.
• Mockingjay / Suzanne Collins.
• Ouran High School host club / [story and art by] Bisco Hatori ; [English adaptation, Gary Leach ; translation, Kenichiro
• The inheritance games / Jennifer Lynn Barnes.
• One of us is lying / Karen M. McManus.
• Catching fire / Suzanne Collins.

Top picture books:

• Will the Pigeon graduate? / words and pictures by Mo Willems.
• The pigeon has to go to school! / words and pictures by Mo Willems.
• The wild robot on the island / words and pictures by Peter Brown.
• The duckling gets a cookie!? / words and picture by Mo Willems.
• Creepy crayon! / Aaron Reynolds ; illustrated by Peter Brown.
• Creepy carrots! / words, Aaron Reynolds ; pictures, Peter Brown.
• Creepy pair of underwear! / words, Aaron Reynolds ; pictures, Peter Brown.
• Pete the cat screams for ice cream! / Kimberly & James Dean.
• Little Excavator / by Anna Dewdney.
• Bluey : daddy putdown.

Top juvenile fiction:

• Dog Man. Big Jim begins / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey as George Beard and Harold Hutchins.
• Dog Man. The scarlet shedder / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey, as George Beard and Harold Hutchins.
• Dog man. Lord of the fleas / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey, as George Beard and Harold Hutchins.
• Dog Man. For whom the ball rolls / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey as George Beard and Harold Hutchins.
• Hot mess / by Jeff Kinney.
• Dog Man. Brawl of the wild / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey as George Beard and Harold Hutchins.
• Dog Man. Twenty thousand fleas under the sea / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey as George Beard and Harold Hutchins.
• Dog Man. A tale of two kitties / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey, as George Beard and Harold Hutchins.
• Dog man. Grime and punishment / written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey as George Beard and Harold Hutchins.
• Baby-sitters Club. Vol. 17, Mallory and the trouble with twins / a graphic novel by Arley Nopra.

Top DVDs

• Wicked / Universal Pictures.
• Moana 2 / directed by David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller.
• Dog Man / Universal Pictures.
• The wild robot / DreamWorks Animation.
• Twisters / directed by Lee Isaac Chung.
• Despicable me 4 / Universal Pictures.
• Gladiator II / Paramount Pictures.
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 / directed by Jeff Fowler.
• It ends with us / Columbia Pictures.
• A minecraft movie / director, screenwriter Jared Hess.

In 2026, the Friends of the Litchfield Library will hold book sales on these Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.:

• March 21
• July 11
• November 21

In 2026, the Friends of the Litchfield Library will meet on these Mondays at 4:00 p.m.:

• February 9
• April 13
• June 8
• October 19

New members are always welcome! The Friends of the Library run the book sales, manage the donated books and AV materials and items that have been withdrawn from the library collection, sell books through Better World Books, make free books available on the cart in the library’s entry and in little free libraries, and donate funds to the library to support programs and special needs.