Bedford Public Library System

10/19/2026

🎃📚 Vote for Your Favorite Pumpkin! 📚🎃

Our annual Library Staff Pumpkin Decorating Contest is officially underway, and we need YOUR help choosing the winners! Our talented staff at various library locations have created 7 amazing pumpkin masterpieces, and they're ready for your votes!

🗳️ Here's How to Vote:
- Stop by Bedford Central Library to cast your vote in person!
AND/OR
- Browse the pumpkin entries in our Facebook photo album.
- Then👍 like the photo of your favorite pumpkin(s) and/or comment below with the number(s) of your top picks!

Voting is open through Saturday, October 31st, so be sure to get your votes in! We'll announce the winners on Monday, November 2nd.

Come celebrate our staff's creativity, a love of libraries, and a little Halloween magic! ✨

10/17/2026

🍝 Happy National Pasta Day! And what’s one thing that comes to mind when you think of pasta? MEATBALLS, of course! 🍝🍝

Speaking of meatballs, we’re super excited to welcome Mill Mountain Theatre back to the Bedford Public Library System next Saturday, October 24th, with a brand-new musical adventure: Curious George: The Golden Meatball! 🐵🎶

Join us at Bedford Central Library at 11 AM or Forest Library at 2:30 PM for a lovable, music-filled adventure made just for young audiences. It’s sure to have little ones singing, swinging, and smiling all the way through!

📣 Registration is required! Visit our library events calendar or call your library to reserve your spot.

📍 Bedford Central Library: 540-586-8911
📍 Forest Library: 540-425-7002

This project was supported, in part, by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, which receives support from the Virginia General Assembly.

10/16/2026

10/16/2026

Today is Friday, so that means it's time for a new Friday Facebook Freebie Advanced Reader Copy giveaway prompt!

In honor of today being National DICTIONARY DAY, we want you to name a word that has the same 1st letter and last letter as your first name. The more creative and unique the word, the better (break out a dictionary if you need to)!

Example: If your name is Sharon, you could use Shenanigan.

Entries should be posted by 11:59 PM on Thursday, October 22nd.
Rules for the Library giveaway:
1. Must Like/Follow BPLS on Facebook.
2. Books being given away are mostly Advance Reader Copies (ARCs), which often include errors, and the books cannot be given back to us or sold.
3. Winners should be Bedford County or a surrounding county/city resident: Lynchburg, Campbell, Botetourt, Roanoke, Amherst, Pittsylvania, Rockbridge, or Franklin.
4. Winners will be announced in a special post on Facebook and notified via Facebook Messenger on the Friday following each giveaway with a list of titles to choose from. Winners can then choose which branch they would like to pick up their prize from (Bedford, Big Island, Forest, Moneta/SML, Montvale, OR Stewartsville).
5. We will NEVER ASK YOU for any credit card information OR announce the winner(s) by commenting directly on your original entry.
6. If you are a winner and DO NOT receive a message from us within 24 hours, please email our Digital Services Associate, Cynthia Stowell - [email protected].

10/16/2026

Georgia-Pacific will be holding open interviews tomorrow, Saturday, October 17th, from 10 AM to 1 PM at our Bedford Central Library. They are currently looking to hire a production operator-service crew at their Big Island location.

10/16/2026

Congratulations to our ARC Giveaway Winner of the week, Sharon Slingerland! We will post our next giveaway opportunity this afternoon at 1 PM.

10/14/2026

The 2026 BPLS Anthology has landed! Buy a copy of the inaugural creative writing anthology in person at any Bedford Public Library System location for $15 cash/$16 card or $15 online through the Blurb shop linked in the comments! Orders placed through Blurb will have to pay shipping and handling costs from the distributor.

If you've already gotten your copy, do you have a favorite piece? Let us know in the comments!

Keep reading for more information on the anthology and its theme.

💫🌙🚀🛸

Words are powerful. They can help and hurt, comfort or coerce. They can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

What do you think of when you hear the phrase “out of this world?”

We asked writers and artists from across the Bedford Public Library System that very question in the spring of 2026, and they submitted their interpretations for this collection. Where one might think extraordinary, another might think extraterrestrials.

Dive into the inaugural anthology of creative works and experience a whole new world.

💫🌙🚀🛸

10/14/2026

🍰 Happy National Dessert Day! 🧁

Looking for a little sweetness in your life? Celebrate with some delicious inspiration from the library! 📚🍪 We’re highlighting some of the newest baking and dessert cookbooks in our collection, filled with tempting treats, creative confections, and recipes to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Whether you love baking cakes, whipping up cookies, or trying something new, we have a cookbook for you!

10/13/2026

🎃👻 Gather your friends, family, and neighbors for a spooky good time at the Stewartsville Library! Join us Tuesday, October 20th, at 5:30 PM for a fun-filled evening of Halloween-inspired trivia, friendly competition, and prizes!

🕸️ For adults only. Registration is required (see our events calendar OR call us at 540-425-7008). Come ready to show off your spooky smarts!

10/13/2026

The Forest Library will be closed for the rest of today (10/13) and all day tomorrow (10/14) due to a water pipe burst in the public restrooms. We apologize for the inconvenience.

All other BPLS branches will be operating on their usual business hours.