President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president, while Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will become the first woman and person of color to hold that office in the U.S. when the historic 59th presidential inauguration takes place Wednesday. Our country has celebrated Inauguration Day on January 20 since 1937. Prior to then,… View more
The Cedar Rapids Public Library circulated thousands of books to patrons in 2020, despite the pandemic forcing building closures and a new quarantine process. Check out this list of the most circulated Adult and Young Adult book titles of 2020. 1. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens Fans of Barbara Kingsolver will love this… View more
Civilizations around the world have been celebrating the start of each new year for at least four millennia. Today, most New Year’s festivities begin on December 31 (New Year’s Eve), the last day of the Gregorian calendar, and continue into the early hours of January 1 (New Year’s Day). We may find more reason than… View more
As we look back on 2020, we are amazed to share how many new and innovative programs and services our Library developed to meet the needs of the community. It was an unprecedented year, but the Library found many ways to provide access to physical materials, circulating 130,000 items using our new Curbside Holds Pickup process. As… View more
The Cedar Rapids Public Library invites everyone to warm up with a good book this January as part of the 2021 Winter Reading Challenge. From January 1st to January 31st, the Cedar Rapids Public Library will participate in Beanstack’s Fourth Annual Winter Reading Challenge, “Book Like Us,” sponsored by Simon and Schuster (S&S). We challenge… View more
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is proud to announce that we have been selected as a recipient of the Beanstack Black Voices Microgrants. We’re excited to share this news and what it means for our community! As you may know, we partner with Beanstack to power our reading challenges. They’ve offered these microgrants to help… View more
The Library has a wonderful new service available to support you from anywhere – chat support. Visit our website now and click on the chat icon on the lower right to begin your chat. Staff are available during library hours to answer your questions, connect you to resources, and help you access library materials. Current… View more
The Cedar Rapids Public Library will close buildings to the public and return to curbside services only beginning Monday, November 16, 2020. Book drops remain open and materials go through a 72-hour quarantine period before returning to circulation. “Our libraries are critical community resources and we continue to monitor the situation and respond to the… View more
November is National Native American Heritage Month. What started at the turn of the century as an effort to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the U.S., has resulted in a whole month being designated for that purpose. The American Library Association… View more
Whether your child is gumming the pages of board books or reading chapter books, sharing stories is a timeless way to ensure your child develops a life-long love of reading. November is National Family Literacy Month and a wonderful opportunity to celebrate reading and learning together. Celebrate National Family Literacy Month in these simple ways:… View more