News & Updates

Cedar Rapids Public Library Accepts Jerry Kline Community Impact Prize at New Orleans Celebration
The Cedar Rapids Public Library was honored to accept the Jerry Kline Community Impact Prize during a celebration held at the American Library Association’s LibLearnX Conference in New Orleans on Jan. 30.

Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation Mails 300,000th Free Book to Cedar Rapids Children, Celebrates with Dolly Parton Birthday Party
The Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation will celebrate five years of bringing Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Cedar Rapids children and will mail the 300,000th free book to a Cedar Rapids child in early 2023.

The Library Wrapped: The Year's Most Popular Digital & Streaming Titles
What did Cedar Rapids library patrons read, listen to and watch this year?
Recommended Reads
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The Menu
A dark comedy horror featuring a young couple who travels to a faraway secluded island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef has prepared an extravagant menu, with some shocking surprises.
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The Rabbit Listened
A moving and universal picture book about empathy and kindness, sure to soothe heartaches big and small—now a New York Times bestseller and a perfect gift for any special occasion
When something sad happens, Taylor doesn't know where to turn. All the animals are sure they have the answer. The chicken wants to talk it out, but Taylor doesn't feel like chatting. The bear thinks Taylor should get angry, but that's not quite right either. One by one, the animals try to tell Taylor how to act, and one by one they fail to offer comfort. Then the rabbit arrives. All the rabbit does is listen . . . which is just what Taylor needs.
With its spare, poignant text and irresistibly sweet illustration, The Rabbit Listened is about how to comfort and heal the people in your life, by taking the time to carefully, lovingly, gently listen. -
The Motherless Oven
In Scarper Lee's world, parents don't make children—children make parents. Scarper's father is his pride and joy, a wind-powered brass construction with a billowing sail. His mother is a Bakelite hairdryer. In this world it rains knives, and household appliances have souls. There are also no birthdays—only deathdays. Scarper's deathday is just three weeks away, and he clings to the mundane repetition of his life at home and high school for comfort. Rob Davis's dark graphic novel is an odyssey through a bizarre, distorted teenage landscape. When Scarper's father mysteriously disappears, he sets off with Vera Pike (the new girl at school) and Castro Smith (the weirdest kid in town) to find him. Facing home truths and knife storms at every turn, will Scarper even survive until his deathday?
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Eyes That Kiss in the Corners
A New York Times Bestseller and #1 Indie Bestseller · A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year · A School Library Journal Best Book of 2021 · Included in NPR's 2021 Books We Love List · Featured in Forbes, Oprah Daily, The Cut, and Book Riot · Golden Poppy Book Award Winner · Featured in Chicago Public Library's Best Books of 2021 · 2021 Nerdy Award Winner · A Kirkus Children's Best Book of 2021
This lyrical, stunning picture book tells a story about learning to love and celebrate your Asian-shaped eyes, in the spirit of Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry, and is a celebration of diversity.
A young Asian girl notices that her eyes look different from her peers'. They have big, round eyes and long lashes. She realizes that her eyes are like her mother's, her grandmother's, and her little sister's. They have eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea, crinkle into crescent moons, and are filled with stories of the past and hope for the future.
Drawing from the strength of these powerful women in her life, she recognizes her own beauty and discovers a path to self-love and empowerment. This powerful, poetic picture book will resonate with readers of all ages.
"This tale of self-acceptance and respect for one's roots is breathtaking." --Kirkus (starred review)
"A young girl finds beauty in her uniqueness." --School Library Journal (starred review)
"A lyrical celebration of her eyes, their shape, spirit, and legacy." --Booklist (starred review)
"A poignant testament to familial love and legacy." --Publishers Weekly
Plus don't miss the beautiful companion book from the same team: Eyes That Speak to the Stars.
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Wait Till Helen Comes Graphic Novel
In this graphic novel adaptation of master horror storyteller Mary Downing Hahn's spookiest and most popular tale, two siblings must save their stepsister from the clutches of a vengeful ghost.
When their mom remarries, Molly and her brother, Michael, try to make friends with their new stepsister, Heather. But Heather only wants to make trouble for them. She lies and tattles and misbehaves, and somehow they always get the blame. They know she's trying to drive a wedge between her father and their mother so she can have her father all to herself--and it seems to be working.
Then, Heather starts playing in the graveyard behind their new house. She claims she can talk to a ghost named Helen, and her behavior gets even stranger. Michael doesn't believe in ghosts and thinks their new little sister is just looking for more attention. But Molly isn't so certain, especially when Heather threatens that Helen is going to come for them and make them sorry.
It seems as though things can't get any worse--but they do.
When Helen comes.
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Hakim's Odyssey
The end of a journey, the beginning of a new life
After being rescued from the Mediterranean, Hakim and his son reach European soil, full of hope. But before they can get to France, they face a new series of challenges: overcrowded detention centers, run-ins with border police, and a persistent xenophobia that seems to follow them almost everywhere they go. Will Hakim's determination and the kindness of strangers be enough to carry him to the end of his journey and reunite his family?
By turns heart-warming and heart-wrenching, this final installment in the Hakim's Odyssey trilogy follows Hakim and his son as they make their way from Macedonia to the south of France. Based on true events, it lays bare the tremendous effects that the policies of wealthy countries and the attitudes of their people have on the lives of the displaced and dispossessed. -
Rise of the School for Good and Evil
THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL is the #1 movie now streaming on Netflix--starring Academy Award winner Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington, Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Yeoh, Sofia Wylie, Sophie Anne Caruso, Jamie Flatters, Earl Cave, Kit Young, and many others!
The battle between Good and Evil begins.
Two brothers.
One Good.
One Evil.
Together they watch over the Endless Woods.
Together they choose the students for the School for Good and Evil.
Together they train them, teach them, prepare them for their fate.
Then, something happens.
Something unexpected.
Something powerful.
Something that will change everything and everyone.
Who will survive?
Who will rule the School?
The journey starts here. Every step is filled with magic, surprises, and daring deeds that test courage, loyalty, and who you really are. But they only lead you to the very beginning of the adventures that are THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL.
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Witchlings
Disney's The Owl House meets Nevermoor, in a brilliant new adventure from New York Times bestselling author Claribel A. Ortega!
Every year, in the magical town of Ravenskill, Witchlings who participate in the Black Moon Ceremony are placed into covens and come into their powers as full-fledged witches.
And twelve-year-old Seven Salazar can't wait to be placed in the most powerful coven with her best friend! But on the night of the ceremony, in front of the entire town, Seven isn't placed in one of the five covens. She's a Spare!
Spare covens have fewer witches, are less powerful, and are looked down on by everyone. Even worse, when Seven and the other two Spares perform the magic circle to seal their coven and cement themselves as sisters, it doesn't work! They're stuck as Witchlings--and will lose their magic.
Seven invokes her only option: the impossible task. The three Spares will be assigned an impossible task: If they work together and succeed at it, their coven will be sealed and they'll gain their full powers. If they fail... Well, the last coven to make the attempt ended up being turned into toads. Forever.
But maybe friendship can be the most powerful magic of all...
With action-packed adventure, a coven of quirky witchlings, Claribel A. Ortega's signature humor, and girl-power vibes, you won't be able to put down this middle-grade Latine witch story, perfect for fans of Amari and the Night Brothers or Harry Potter.
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We Only Find Them When They're Dead
Captain Malik and the crew of his spaceship are in search of the only resources that matter – and can only be found by harvesting the giant corpses of alien gods that are found on the edge of human space..and now they see an opportunity to finally break free from this system: by being the first to find a living god.
THE GODS ARE ALWAYS BEAUTIFUL... ...AND THE GODS ARE ALWAYS DEAD. Captain Malik and the crew of the spaceship the Vihaan II are in search of the only resources that matter – and can only be found by harvesting the giant corpses of alien gods that are found on the edge of human space. While other autopsy ships and explorers race to salvage the meat, minerals, and metals that sustain the human race, Malik sees an opportunity to finally break free from this system: by being the first to find a living god. But Malik’s obsession with the gods will push his crew into the darkest reaches of space, bringing them face to face with a threat unlike anything they ever imagined, unless the rogue agent on their trail can stop them first... Superstars Al Ewing (Immortal Hulk) and Simone Di Meo (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) present a new sci-fi epic about the search for meaning and the hard choices we make to find it, no matter the cost to the world – or universe – around us. Collects We Only Find Them When They’re Dead #1-5. -
Little Monsters
They are the last children on Earth... who also happen to be vampires. For longer than they can remember, these child vampires have lived a life of eternal wonder amongst the ruins of humanity. But shocking events fracture the group and set them on a path of discovery that will shatter their innocence forever.
It's Lord of The Flies meets vampires in the first volume of a bold new ongoing series from Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen, the Eisner-winning creative team behind the best-selling DESCENDER and ASCENDER series.
Collects issues #1 -6