By Abigail Hardison

Rowan Public Library

January is always cold. Blisteringly, bone-achingly, cold — the kind of cold where you just want to go home and get in a hot bathtub just to get your whole body warm at the same time.

Libraries are places many folks come in to warm up, charge their phones, use the wi-fi, read the paper, etc. But this January, we have a special program designed to blast your winter blues with some tropical heat.

Based on the success we had hosting an Intro to Swing dance class last summer, we are kicking off our Winter/Spring Adult programs on Jan. 12 from 3 to 4 p.m. with a very special collaboration. Rowan Public Library, Salsarita’s Fresh Mexican Grill, and Spotlight Dance Company are coming together to bring you “Salsa, Chips, and Salsa.”

Our Stanback Auditorium will be the location for a totally free and totally fun event with delicious snacks from the local and fresh eatery, along with totally spicy Salsa moves taught by an instructor from Salisbury’s Spotlight Dance Company. Our space is limited because you’ll need room to move around, so please call 704-216-8248 and register.

If you can’t make it to our free dance class, then at least you can swing by or log on and pickup these hot thriller titles to keep your heart pounding and your palms sweaty this January.

First up, we’ve got some psychological suspense. The authors behind last year’s smash hit “The Wife Between Us,” Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, have got their next title “An Anonymous Girl” coming out in January. It’s already in the catalog, so go ahead and get on hold for it. There will undoubtedly be a wait list.

Another thriller with a lot of buzz behind it is “Looker” by Laura Sims. This debut novel is all about the obsession with celebrity culture and what an unhappy person will do to feel close to the object of her obsession, especially when the obsession lives just a few doors down. This Hitchcockian thriller shows us why envy is a mortal sin.

Our last thriller to highlight is “The Night Agent” by Matthew Quick. This timely tale is the story of young FBI agent, Peter Sutherland, whose only job is to staff the night desk in the White House Situation Room, and to monitor one emergency phone line … which never rings.

Until it does. And the mysterious call that comes in starts a desperate hunt for a deeply-buried Russian mole at the highest levels of power. Peter must evade assassins, spies and the FBI to uncover the truth. Find out if he does.! Be sure to check it out.

As always, our staff here at RPL is ready and waiting to put your next favorite book right into your hands. Call, email or swing by and let us do what we do best.

Rowan Public Library holiday closings: Headquarters, East branch and South Rowan Regional will be closed Monday-Wednesday, Dec. 24-26. Regular hours resume Dec. 27.

Displays: Headquarters, Ghosts of Christmas Honor Cards Past by Rowan Helping Ministries and Photowalk at Chestnut Hill Cemetery by Paul Birkhead; East, History of Candy by Tammie Foster; South, memorabilia by Sharon Ross.

Literacy: Call the Rowan County Literacy Council at 704-216-8266 for more information on teaching or receiving literacy tutoring for English speakers or for those for whom English is a second language.