Discover all the ways the Library helps you with your winter holidays.
Helping You Prep
3D Printing Together for Grades 3–5 with an Adult: Holiday Cookie Cutters
Cooking Demo & Tasting: Holiday Appetizers & Canapés
GENERIC ROM New York Times featuring Cooking, Games, The Athletic
Elevate Your Meals with The New York Times Cooking
Find ideas to help you plan delicious holiday meals and treats.
Freegal Gift Guide
Set the Mood with a Holiday Playlist on the Freegal App
Search “holidays” in Freegal to uncover dedicated holiday albums and multiple premade playlists. Or search the entire Holiday genre and curate your own playlist as you jam to get your home ready for family time and good cheer.
Creativebug Gift Guide
Make a Winter Wreath with Creativebug
Gather your evergreen branches, berries, pods, and pinecones! Jill from Studio Choo demonstrates how to snip branches down to manageable pieces and attach them securely to a wire wreath form, all while sharing ideas for combining different kinds of foliage to create a wild, organic look.
Helping You Give
Holiday Book Bazaar by the Friends
The Best Books This Winter
Sublimate Your Own Holiday Gifts
Saturday Holiday Market at the West Side Train Station
GENERIC ROM New York Times featuring Cooking, Games, The Athletic
The Best Gift Ideas from Wirecutter
From housewares and appliances to electronics and fashion, and much much more, browse a plethora of “best of” articles in the Wirecutter product recommendation service from The New York Times Unlimited.
Off-site Think Local Pop-Up Shop
Shop the Friends of Lake Forest Library space at the Pop-Up Shop brought to you by the LF/LB Chamber of Commerce.
Stay tuned for details including location and Friends dates. Starting November 29, Pop-Up Shop hours are 11:00 am–4:00 pm on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
Helping You Connect
Preserve the Past with Someone Older & Wiser
You have the tech know‑how, they have the memories! Use equipment and resources from the Library to help your older family and friends digitize photos, convert home movies, fill in branches of the family tree, and share and preserve their recollections.
Visit the Library to use Ancestry, borrow digitizing equipment from the Takeout Tech hangtags in the Reference Room, and/or make an appointment at THE MEDIA LAB.
GENERIC QL SS Explore More Illinois
Get Free Parking at Cantigny Park in Wheaton
Enjoy Christmas at Cantigny (the 500‑acre former estate of Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune) with a 1/2-mile stroll along an ADA- and stroller‑accessible path featuring music, lights, and decorations. If it’s snowing and you want to shake it off, get Sunday tickets for A Very Taylor Christmas! To print and download a pass follow the Explore More steps.
Takeout Tech Gift Guide
Memory Café at Dickinson Hall: Seasonal Songs and Holiday Magic with Amy Lowe
Puzzle Challenge
Helping You Recover
Visit the Friends Quiet Reading Room to Read & Relax by the Library Fireplace
Whether you need a change of scenery to combat cabin fever or a break from the holiday hustle at home, the big armchairs by the Library fireplace are the perfect winter refuge.
Love & Laughs with Michelle Buteau
GENERIC QL ROM Kanopy
Lighten the Mood with Kanopy
For a release from anything hard, overwhelming, or boring, search the Kanopy app for “comedians” and discover documentaries and performances starring Chris Farley, Kevin Hart, Aubrey Plaza, Romesh Ranganathan, and more!
GENERIC QL SS Tough Topics
Support for Challenges
If you or someone you know is dealing with food insecurity, abuse, mental health concerns, grief, or any other issues, help is available through 211 Lake County and other resources.
Helping You Renew
Increase Your iPhone Expertise
Becoming a Self-Taught Learner
Drop-in Tech Tuesdays
Puzzle & Game Exchange: Shop
GENERIC ROM QL LinkedIn Learning
Learn Professional Skills
You might remember Lynda.com. Since being acquired by LinkedIn, you can now find the same world‑class content, engaging learner experience, and strategic insights taught by industry experts on LinkedIn Learning!
Gifts of Money? Invest! Gift Guide
Gifts of Money? Invest!
Whether you’re a beginner investor in need of instructional videos or a veteran looking for data and stock tips, the Library connects you with resources to help you make the best decisions about your investments.