Mystery Mavens
2026-02-24 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-04-28 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-05-26 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-06-23 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-07-28 18:00 - 19:00 UTC | Hutchinson Public Library, 901 N Main St, Hutchinson, KS, 67501, United States
6:00 pm
Sun Room
Mystery Mavens meet on the fourth Tuesday of every month. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of this month’s book and participating in a discussion, please contact adult.program.coordinator@hutchpl.org or call 620-663-5441 ext. 123

How Long 'Til Black Future Month? By N.K. Jemisin Book Discussion
2026-02-26 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago) | Sandhills Brewing, 111 West 2nd Ave., Hutchinson, KS, 67501, United States
Join us at Sandhills Brewing to talk about this imaginative collection of short stories with themes of destruction, rebirth, and redemption that sharply examine modern life through the lens of science fiction.
Spirits haunt the flooded streets of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In a parallel universe, a utopian society watches our world, trying to learn from our mistakes. A black mother in the Jim Crow South must save her daughter from a fey offering impossible promises. And in the Hugo award-nominated short story “The City Born Great,” a young street kid fights to give birth to an old metropolis’s soul.
N. K. Jemisin’s short stories will get you thinking about different perspectives and what-ifs. This is sure to be a lively discussion!

Is the Book Always Better? Book + Movie Discussion
2026-03-09 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
Whether you love or hate film adaptations of your favorite stories, this book club is the place to have an exciting conversation about books, casting choices, plot changes, cinematography, and more! We meet every other month with a new title each time. Joining is easy! Check out the book for the “Is the Book Always Better?” book club at the public service desk.
Where the Crawdads Sing
“Painfully beautiful.”—The New York Times Book Review
For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life—until the unthinkable happens.
Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

March 9th we’ll meet to talk about our experience reading the novel and watching the 2022 film adaptation. Join us at 6:00 PM in the library sun room whether you’ve read the book, watched the movie or both!

For the Record - Books + Music Club
2026-03-10 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-04-14 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-05-12 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-06-09 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-07-14 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-08-11 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
For the Record is a place for music lovers to gather and share their love of both reading about and listening to music. Join us for a monthly meetup on the second Tuesday of the month at 6:00PM. We dive into the stories behind iconic musicians and albums, while sharing our favorite tracks and newest record finds. We read the 33 1/3 series. These are short books, each about a different musician and album. We explore a new one each month with a discussion about the book, album and the music that moves us. Whether you are a vinyl enthusiast or just passionate about discovering new sounds, For the Record offers a fun and welcoming space to connect.

We meet every month except for September.
Visit our Adults page to see what we are reading this month. Books are available for check out at the Public Service desk.

The Astral Library with Kate Quinn - Virtual Author Talk
2026-03-12 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago) | Hutchinson Public Library- Virtual
Register and Ask Questions of the Author
You’re invited to join us for a virtual conversation with acclaimed author Kate Quinn about her latest fantastical work, The Astral Library, which poses the question: Have you ever wished you could live inside a book? Welcome to the Astral Library, where books are not just objects, but doors to new worlds, new lives, and new futures.
Alexandria “Alix” Watson has learned one lesson from her barren childhood in the foster-care system: unlike people, books will never let you down. Working three dead-end jobs to make ends meet and knowing college is a pipe dream, Alix takes nightly refuge in the high-vaulted reading room at the Boston Public Library, escaping into her favorite fantasy novels and dreaming of far-off lands. Until the day she stumbles through a hidden door and meets the Librarian: the ageless, acerbic guardian of a hidden library where the desperate and the lost escape to new lives…inside their favorite books.
The Librarian takes a dazzled Alix under her wing, but before she can escape into the pages of her new life, a shadowy enemy emerges to threaten everyone the Astral Library has ever helped protect. Aided by a dashing costume-shop owner, Alix and the Librarian flee through the Regency drawing rooms of Jane Austen to the back alleys of Sherlock Holmes and the champagne-soaked parties of The Great Gatsby as danger draws inexorably closer. But who does their enemy really wish to destroy—Alix, the Librarian, or the Library itself?
Register now to hear more about The Astral Library, crafted for all bookworms and lovers of literature.
About the Author: Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of Southern California, she attended Boston University, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in classical voice. A lifelong history buff, she has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga and two books set in the Italian Renaissance before turning to the 20th century with The Alice Network, The Huntress, The Rose Code, The Diamond Eye, and The Briar Club. The Astral Library is her first foray into magic realism. She and her husband now live in Maryland with their rescue dogs.

Stories from the Phog with Chelan David
2026-03-13 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | Hutchinson Public Library, 901 N Main St, Hutchinson, KS, 67501, United States
Get ready for March Madness and get hyped about KU basketball on Friday, March 13 with Stories from the Phog.
Author Chelan David will be at our library to share 40 years of KU Basketball with us, just ahead of the NCAA and NJCAA tournaments.
In Stories from the Phog, lifelong KU hoops fan and Lawrence native Chelan David invites readers on a journey through forty years of Kansas basketball. It begins with a trip to an arcade with David Magley, Indiana’s Mr. Basketball in 1978, includes the 2022 National Championship game, and culminates with the changing landscape of college basketball that we are witness to today. In between are encounters with Larry Brown, Danny Manning, Roy Williams, Bill Self, Gradey Dick, and other legends of the Kansas program, and memories from KU fans. Also included are anecdotes from descendants of James Naismith and Phog Allen.

Salt City Readers
2026-03-18 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-04-15 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-05-20 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-06-17 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-07-15 18:00 - 19:00 UTC | Hutchinson Public Library, 901 N Main St, Hutchinson, KS, 67501, United States
Let’s talk about books! We explore a variety of fiction genres each month!
Salt City Readers meets every third Wednesday each month.
Check out the books at the Public Service Desk or on Cloud Library!

Virtual Author Talk with Brad Taylor
2026-04-14 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago) | Hutchinson Public Library- Virtual
Register and ask questions here.
Join us in conversation with acclaimed author Brad Taylor on his latest work, Shadow Strike, book 20 (yes, you read that right!) of the bestselling Pike Logan series.
After its proxies are devastated and its offensive capability pummeled in the latest war in the middle east, a rogue group of Iranian regime officials create a brazen plot to strike back at their hated enemies once and for all. They envision a series of operational dominos culminating in a devastating attack, and the first step is the assassination of the Israeli prime minister. And there’s only one assassin with the skills to pull it off: Abdul Rahman, known in the shadows as the Ghost.
When a routine prison transfer is ambushed, the Ghost escapes and is given the assignment. The only Operator who can hunt him down is the man who stopped him before: Pike Logan.
Pike and his team soon learn that the mission involves something bigger than just the escape of his old enemy. Working with Mossad agents, the pursuit leads the Taskforce to Argentina. They work to unravel the scope of the attack, and the chase leads them through the tempestuous waterfalls of Iguazu and the Triple Frontier, to the vibrant streets of Buenos Aires, and the tiny village of Ushuaia at the “End of the World”.
As the team races against the clock, Pike learns the stakes are much greater than a single life – the consequences extend into the heartland of America itself. The Ghost may hold the key to an escalation that will upend the worldwide balance of power, and if Pike fails, the fallout won’t just be personal – it’ll be global.
Register today to learn why the Pike Logan series has everyone buzzing!
About the Author: Brad Taylor is the author of the New York Times bestselling Pike Logan series. He served for more than twenty years in the U.S. Army, including eight years in 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, commonly known as Delta Force. He retired as a Special Forces lieutenant colonel and now lives in Charleston, South Carolina.

Virtual Author Talk with Miranda Cowley Heller
2026-04-22 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago) | Hutchinson Public Library- Virtual
Register and ask questions here.
Award-winning and bestselling author Miranda Cowley Heller takes us on an intimate journey through the life stages of a woman in her new poetry collection, What the Deep Water Knows. Delicate, yet exceedingly raw, these poems will transport you as vividly as any work of fiction.

If I could fly backward, I would.
To the safety of branches, to the time
when my heart still raced for you,
twelve hundred beats a minute.

In poetry that is at once bold and lyrical, affecting and devastatingly frank, Miranda Cowley Heller takes us through childhood, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. Suffused with the natural world and the landscape of Cape Cod, where many of the poems are set, What the Deep Water Knows contemplates love in all the seasons.
Register now to celebrate National Poetry Month with this graceful new poetry collection.
About the Author: Miranda Cowley Heller was raised in New York City and Cape Cod. Her debut novel The Paper Palace was a number one New York Times bestseller in the US, a Sunday Times bestseller in the UK, and was longlisted for the Women’s Prize. She has worked as a senior vice president and head of drama series at HBO, developing and overseeing such shows as The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Wire, Deadwood, and Big Love, among others. This is her first poetry collection.

Strange New Words Science Fiction Book Club
2026-04-23 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-05-28 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-06-25 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-07-23 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago) | Sandhills Brewing, 111 West 2nd Ave., Hutchinson, KS, 67501, United States
Strange New Words will take you on a literary journey through time and space with friends! This book club meets at the library every other month on the fourth Thursday at 6:00PM. Together, we’ll explore new and thought-provoking realms that shed light on the complexities of the human experience—often through unexpected perspectives. Whether you’re a seasoned sci-fi enthusiast or just beginning to explore the genre, Strange New Words offers a welcoming space for rich discussion, discovery, and connection. Join us as we navigate the unknown and unravel stories that challenge, entertain, and inspire.

Virtual Author Talk with Jason Reynolds
2026-04-30 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
On Writing Beloved Characters and Powerful Portrayals of Resilience in Virtual Conversation with Jason Reynolds
Award-Winning and New York Times Bestselling Author
Thursday, April 30th 2026 at 6:00 PM

Register and Ask Questions Here

Join us in an online conversation with bestselling author Jason Reynolds as we discuss his latest work, Coach, the fifth–and last–entry in the highly popular Track series. Following the immersive stories of Ghost, Lu, Patina, and Sunny, it’s finally time for Coach to shine in his own book as we discover: Who was Coach before he became an inspiring leader?
Before Coach was the man who gave caring yet firm-handed guidance to Ghost, Lu, Patina, and Sunny on the Defenders track team, he was little Otie Brody, who was obsessed with Mr. 9.99 (a.k.a. Carl Lewis) and Marty McFly from Back to the Future. Like Mr. 9.99—and his own dad—Otie is a sprinter. Sprint free or die is practically his motto.
Then his dad, who is always away on business trips, comes home with a pair of Jordans. JORDANS. Fine as fine can be. Otie puts them on and feels like he can leap to the moon…maybe even leap like Mr. 9.99 when he won the Olympic gold medal in the long jump. But one morning he wakes up to find his brand-new secret weapon kicks are missing—right off his feet! And Otie just might have a fuzzy memory of his dad easing them off as Otie was sleeping, but that can’t be right, can it?
Unless all the reasons for his dad’s “gone’s” are very different from what he’s been told… Because now, not only are the Jordans missing, but so is his father.
Register now to join in on the online conversation about the final installment to Jason Reynold’s Track series!
About the Author: Jason Reynolds is an award-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author. Jason’s many books include Miles Morales: Spider Man, the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu), Long Way Down, which received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and a Correta Scott King Honor, and Look Both Ways, which was a National Book Award Finalist. Recently named the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Jason has appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and CBS This Morning. He is on faculty at Lesley University, for the Writing for Young People MFA Program and lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.

Is the Book Always Better? Book + Movie Discussion
2026-05-11 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-07-13 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
Whether you love or hate film adaptations of your favorite stories, this book club is the place to have an exciting conversation about books, casting choices, plot changes, cinematography, and more! We meet every other month with a new title each time. Joining is easy! Check out the book for the “Is the Book Always Better?” book club at the public service desk.

Crafternoon: Upcycled Herb Planters
2026-05-15 14:30 - 16:30 (America/Chicago)
Register Here

Join us for Crafternoon this month and customize an herb planter!
We’re making a starter herb garden with recycled glass and ceramic candle jars and glassware. You can customize it with decoupage or draw a design yourself, depending on the surface. After you’ve made your custom planter, you’ll pick out your herb and plant it!
When you’re finished, you’ll have a perfect starter plant for your kitchen herb garden. You’ll also receive instructions to keep your herbs healthy and gardening tips to help you build your indoor herb garden.
Space and materials are limited, registration is required.
