DPL's 150th Anniversary

A year long celebration of our community library

Over the past 150 years the Decatur Public Library has been proud to be a part of our community, bringing access to books, movies, music, and programming. In celebration, we will be hosting multiple events throughout 2025. Planned events include:

• Year-long Reading Challenge - beginning January 2nd
• Looking Back: A Panel Discussion - January 16th
• Trivia Night* - February 15th
• Hungrytown - March 1st
• Mychal Threets - March 22nd
• Color Run* - April 12th
• READiculous - May 3rd
• Clash of Generations* - June 21st (Morning Session & Afternoon Session)
• Puzzle Race* - July 17th
• Anniversary Party - August 2nd
• Ellen Hopkins - September 18th
• Live History - A Library History themed Escape Room* - October 16th, 17th, and 18th
• Aaron Reynolds - November 15th

Click the links, follow us on socials, sign-up for our newsletter, or visit for updates & to find out more.

Our Story is YOUR Story Exhibit

In honor of our history together, we would love to hear YOUR library story.

Sponsors

A year like this wouldn't be possible without great sponsors and community. We would like to extend our thanks to:

If you or your organization would like to contribute these events, please contact Alix Frazier (afrazier@decaturlibrary.org) or Becky Damptz (rdamptz@decaturlibrary.org).

Volunteering

Do you want to help us make this year outstanding? Several of our events will be in need of extra helping hands, from set-up to take down and more. If you're interested in these opportunities to volunteer, please fill out the volunteer form by clicking the link below, printing & returning a PDF version, or stop in to pick-up a copy.

*Please note that all volunteers will need to have a background check, prior to assignment.

Cheers to 150th Years:

These programs and events were planned by DPL's 150th Anniversary Committee:

• Co-chair Rebecca Damptz - Head of Archives & Special Collections
• Co-chair Alix Frazier - Collections Librarian
• Carol Ziese - Head of Circulation & Techincal Services
• Amanda Young - Childrens Librarian
• Janet Denton - Clerk
• Shelley Whiteside - Library Assistant
• Chris Nihiser - Systems Support Specialist
• Bryan Hedenberg - Friends of the Library
• Samantha Carol - Decatur Public Library Board and Foundation

Former committee members:

• Taneshia Cunningham - Former Library Clerk
• Alanna Banks - Former Decatur Public Library Board

Additional support from:

• Rick Meyer - City Librarian
• Alissa Henkel - Head of Programs, Resources, & Services
• Katie Eytchison - Programs Librarian
• Alexis Tippit - Teen Librarian
• Jason Butterick - Library Assistant
• Tye Pemberton - Public Services Librarian
• Kasey Steiling - Marketing Specialist