Trixie the Library Cat

06/17/2026

Happy Birthday to one of our amazing volunteers! In honor of Gary’s 90th Birthday, we are celebrating with cookies! Stop by the 2nd floor to grab a cookie and sign his card!

06/16/2025

04/02/2025

Join us for Nonfiction on Tap, April 17 at 6:00 PM! This bimonthly book discussion pairs a narrative nonfiction work with craft beer. This month we are discussing Hell's Half-Acre by Susan Jonusas about the Bender Family! Stop by the library to pick up a copy, or vist seknfind.org to reserve your copy today!

A suspense filled tale of murder on the American frontier—shedding new light on a family of serial killers in Kansas, whose horrifying crimes gripped the attention of a nation still reeling from war.

In 1873 the people of Labette County, Kansas made a grisly discovery. Buried by a trailside cabin beneath an orchard of young apple trees were the remains of countless bodies. Below the cabin itself was a cellar stained with blood. The Benders, the family of four who once resided on the property were nowhere to be found. The discovery sent the local community and national newspapers into a frenzy that continued for decades, sparking an epic manhunt for the Benders.

The idea that a family of seemingly respectable homesteaders—one among the thousands relocating farther west in search of land and opportunity after the Civil War—were capable of operating "a human slaughter pen" appalled and fascinated the nation. But who the Benders really were, why they committed such a vicious killing spree and whether justice ever caught up to them is a mystery that remains unsolved to this day. Set against the backdrop of postbellum America, Hell’s Half-Acre explores the environment capable of allowing such horrors to take place. Drawing on extensive original archival material, Susan Jonusas introduces us to a fascinating cast of characters, many of whom have been previously missing from the story. Among them are the families of the victims, the hapless detectives who lost the trail, and the fugitives that helped the murderers escape.

Hell’s Half-Acre is a journey into the turbulent heart of nineteenth century America, a place where modernity stalks across the landscape, violently displacing existing populations and building new ones. It is a world where folklore can quickly become fact and an entire family of criminals can slip through a community’s fingers, only to reappear in the most unexpected of places.

03/21/2025

These author talks are wonderful.

Step into Spring with us as we chat with the highly acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult about her newest novel, By Any Other Name. 

02/19/2025

‼️𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐬‼️