YA fantasy, sci-fi and magical realism recommendations for Hispanic Heritage Month
September 15 to October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month. Started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson, it was later expanded to a full month under President Ronald Reagan in 1988. The period also coincides with independence anniversary celebrations in several Latin American countries. We wanted to take the opportunity to draw… View more
These 5 Graphic Novels Will Move You
By Programming Librarian Meredith Crawford Don’t every let anyone tell you graphic novels don’t count as reading, or that they’re only for younger readers. Whether you’re a graphic novel enthusiast or newcomer to these illustrated stories, here are five great titles published in the last year. These recommendations are from a virtual program in our Read Woke series. Full… View more
Have a question about turkey vultures or what to read next? Ask Patron Services Specialist Tricia Semple
Patron Services Specialist Tricia Semple is this week’s featured staff member. If you see her at the Downtown Library, be sure to say hello! What does your job typically include? Patron care, assisting library patrons with reader’s advisory (book recommendations), helping navigate computers and other resources available in the library, and attempting to answer any… View more
Celebrating Welcoming Week at the Library
It is Welcoming Week in Cedar Rapids, part of a nation-wide initiative to create inclusive and welcoming communities. Cedar Rapids started marking this week in 2018, when the City and partners including the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, the Catherine McAuley Center, the Intercultural Center of Iowa, and YPN… View more
Breaking Down Stigma During Suicide Prevention Month
If you or someone you know is expressing thoughts of suicide, call 911 or Foundation 2 Crisis Services at 319-362-2174. All Foundation 2 services are confidential and free. Learn more about suicide prevention and find additional resources at https://foundation2.org/suicide/suicide-prevention/. September is Suicide Prevention Month, and the Library is partnering with Foundation 2 to share information… View more
From school tours to solving problems in emergencies, Jessica Musil keeps things running at the Library
Senior Administrative Assistant Jessica Musil has been an integral presence behind the scenes since before both the current Downtown and Ladd Library locations opened. She’s our latest featured staff member in our series introducing the people of the Cedar Rapids Public Library. What does your job typically include? My primary role is to assist the… View more
September is Library Card Sign-Up Month, and we need your help
September is Library Card Sign-Up Month, and we’re taking the opportunity to highlight all the benefits of a library card. Books, of course, are what libraries are known for, but we offer so much more than that. With your library card, you can: Access physical books, but also magazines, DVDs, music, newspapers and more…. View more
‘Making the community a better place’ is the goal for Ladd Library Branch Manager Stephanie Hall
Meet the Staff For this week’s staff profile, meet Ladd Library Branch Manager Stephanie Hall, who started working at the Library in 2015. What does your job typically include? I manage the building, so I take care of maintenance issues by informing those who can help. I keep track of staff with breaks and lunches,… View more
Want to program a robot or make slime? Librarian Jen Eilers can help
Meet the Staff Programming Librarian Jen Eilers is our newest featured staff member in our series introducing the people of the Cedar Rapids Public Library. Jen started working here just over two years ago. What does your job typically include? It’s hard to say what I typically do because programming is such a varied job…. View more
Read It Before It Becomes a Movie
Read the book before the film hits your screens! These children and young adult stories were recently acquired for film or television adaptation. Check them out before everyone else does and stay off the holds list. Written by Stephanie Perkins for a young adult, horror-loving audience, There’s Someone Inside Your House was purchased by Netflix… View more
Ladd Library Supervisor Tina Pipkin loves helping patrons learn new technology
Meet the Cedar Rapids Public Library staff Our series profiling Library staff continues with Ladd Library Branch Supervisor Tina Pipkin, who has been with the Library since 2015. What does your job typically include? Working closely with the Ladd staff and problem solving, helping with reference as needed, and helping patrons with library related questions,… View more
A year later, Library staff and volunteers recall helping with derecho response
When the derecho roared through Cedar Rapids a year ago, Ladd Library Branch Manager Stephanie Hall wasn’t at the library on Cedar Rapids’ west side. But she could see how bad things were, and she called Branch Supervisor Tina Pipkin to check in. The building had only been reopened on a limited basis for computer… View more
New Library team member Linden Galloway loves cooking and science fiction
Meet the Cedar Rapids Public Library staff One of the newest Library staff members is Programming Librarian Linden Galloway. He started at the Library at the end of July, and we wanted to introduce him as part of our ongoing series profiling Library staff. What does your job typically include? I just started, so mostly… View more
Back to school reads for kids
It seems impossible it is already August, but before we know it, it will be back to school time. Community Engagement Librarian Sarah Voels created this list of books for people looking for good reads for children as they get ready for a new semester. Picture Books Time for School, Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle… View more
Masks Required in the Library
Last week, the CDC issued new guidance to protect communities from the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant. The CDC recommends those in an area of substantial or high transmission wear a mask indoors in public, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated. As of Monday, August 2, the Linn County area is coded as ‘red,’ signifying a… View more
Karla McMurrin has worked at every Library building in more than 40 years on staff
Meet the Cedar Rapids Public Library staff This week in our ongoing series introducing Library staff, meet Patron Services Specialist Karla McMurrin. Karla has worked at the Library since 1980 and has held numerous jobs at the Library over the last 41 years. These days, she can usually be found Downtown. What made you want… View more
Children reading to dogs is one of Patron Services Specialist Melia Tatman’s favorite Library memories
Meet the Cedar Rapids Public Library staff This week in our ongoing series introducing Library staff, meet Patron Services Specialist Melia Tatman. Melia has worked at the Library since 1998 and can most often be found at Ladd Library. What does your job typically include? Guiding patrons in all aspects of the library experience, from… View more
For Patron Services Specialist Sampurna Ghosh, Library is ‘a temple of positivity’
Meet the Cedar Rapids Public Library staff This week we’re introducing Patron Services Specialist Sampurna Ghosh, as part of our series on the employees who make the Library great. Sampurna started at the Library in September 2019, and primarily works downtown. What does your job typically include? I like to think of my role as… View more
Dive into summer reading with these July new book releases
People often perceive library summer reading programs as aimed at children, but the staff of the Cedar Rapids Public Library want patrons of all ages to get excited about reading, not just in the summer but year round. So we wanted to share some July new book releases for adults that we hope will get… View more
Patron Services Specialist Elysha Holley loves helping patrons and Harry Potter
Meet the Cedar Rapids Public Library staff This week we’re introducing Patron Services Specialist Elysha Holley, who goes by Lysh, as part of our series on the employees who make the Library great. Lysh started at the Cedar Rapids Public Library in July 2018 and primarily works Downtown. What does your job typically include? I… View more
Meet the Cedar Rapids Public Library Summer Reading Corps members
Serving at the Cedar Rapids Public Library for the summer through AmeriCorps, you’ll see these three Summer Reading Corps members at outreach events at area parks with the Mobile Technology Lab, and they’ll be helping out with the Summer Dare Reading Program and other Library events and programs. Katie Struckman-Johnson, from Vermillion, South Dakota, graduated… View more
Additional Services Now Available
Both locations of the Cedar Rapids Public Library are excited to welcome the public for additional Library services beginning today, June 21, 2021. Meeting room spaces are now available for public booking on a 90-day rolling calendar, Library programming will soon be available in person in buildings, and a new Integrated Library System (ILS) has officially launched. … View more
New and notable LGBTQ+ titles, from novels to memoirs to photography
The 2000s Made Me Gay: Essays on Pop Culture by Grace PerryPublished June 1, 2021. Social Science. A longtime contributor to The Onion and The Reductress, Perry turns her pen to the 2000s pop culture she grew up on. In a time when queer representation was largely missing from mainstream media, she recounts finding it… View more
Our New System
The Metro Library Network is pleased to announce the successful launch of our new Integrated Library System or ILS. This system manages our collection of shared materials and resources and is how we are able to check items in and out to patrons. This is also the system patrons use to search for items in… View more
Proudly Bisexual Young Adult Books for June and Beyond
The month of June is marked by the end of the school year for most students, the beginning of summer, and Pride Month. While often associated with a time for celebration, it is important to honor its history. The first Pride events were held in New York City in June 1970 on the one year… View more
Library publishes student book for Reed Park Story Walk
Cedar Rapids fifth grader Reese Olalde is a published author, and she’s loving it. “I’ve always wanted to write a book,” she said. “I’ve been making a lot of stories at home. I really like how I can be creative with them.” She’s one of four students from Cedar River Academy at Taylor Elementary who… View more
Bringing books and conversation to the Juvenile Detention Center
When Carl Rush gathered in a room with teens at the Linn County Juvenile Detention Center to discuss books recently, he was encouraged by what he heard. “I read a lot. I read like every night before I go to sleep,” one of the teenagers said. The teen went on to describe one of his… View more
Mobile Technology Lab ready to roll to Cedar Rapids parks
The Mobile Technology Lab is rolling to a Cedar Rapids park near you this summer, and this is not your average library outreach. Instead of a traditional bookmobile, the Cedar Rapids Public Library’s new van is fully loaded with all kinds of technology, from laptops to 3D printers to Ozobots – tiny robots designed to… View more
Summer programs are here, from virtual camps to the Summer Dare
• Register for virtual summer camps for families and teens at events.crlibrary.org/events. • Register for Summer Dare at crlibrary.beanstack.org. • This article is from the summer edition of Open+ magazine, available at the Library and metro-area Hy-Vees or online: fliphtml5.com/homepage/rofy. When the pandemic forced the closure of in-person events last summer, the programming team at the Library… View more
Service Interruption During Transition
The Metro Library Network, consisting of the Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha, and Marion public libraries, will migrate to a new library management system starting Friday, June 11, and ending Wednesday, June 16. This system is the tool we use to manage services such as issuing library cards, checking out materials, and placing holds. During this time, you… View more
Summer Dare 2021
We Dare You! This Summer at the Cedar Rapids Public Library The Cedar Rapids Public Library is daring YOU to reconnect with the community and keep learning all summer long. The 2021 Summer Dare is not your average summer reading program. It is an intergenerational summer learning program that challenges the entire community to get… View more
Important Update to Library Service
The Metro Library Network will switch to a new library operating system in June. To ensure a smooth transition, we need you to do a few things. Please make sure that the following steps are completed by the beginning of June so that you can continue to check out library materials during the transition. (Learn about possible library… View more
Roasters opens new cafe at Downtown Library
Growing up, Amanda Steines loved visiting libraries. “I’ve always had a connection to libraries throughout my life. In hard times, they have been places of solace,” she said. “Books are like friends when you’re lonely. I’ve just always found solace in libraries.” So when she had the opportunity to take over the cafe space in… View more
An update on masking at the Library
A letter to our patrons, from Cedar Rapids Public Library Director Dara Schmidt: The CDC has come out with new guidelines to say people who are vaccinated do not need to wear masks or social distance. This is exciting news, and we are so excited to welcome more people to the Library with no restrictions! While we wish we… View more
Asian and Asian American Young Adult Books to Binge
Asian and Asian American authors and characters represent a wide variety of stories and cultures. Asia is, of course, an enormous continent home to a wide-ranging experiences and identities. It would be a mistake to look to Asian culture as a homogenous identity. Instead, we celebrate a variety of cultures and creators during Asian/Pacific Islander… View more
Opportunity Center at Ladd Library hosting vaccination clinic
The Opportunity Center at Ladd Library, 3750 Williams Blvd. SW, is hosting a COVID-19 vaccination clinic. The free clinic will be Thursday, May 27, 9 am to 5 pm. It is a walk-in clinic, open to anyone ages 18 or older, with no appointment required. It is for the one dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine…. View more
Library’s new Mobile Technology Lab ready to roll
Look for the van all summer long, four days a week: Mondays, except July 5, 1:30-3:30 pm, Jacolyn Park, 198 Jacolyn Dr. NW Tuesdays, 1:30-3:30 pm, Hayes Park, 1924 D St. SW Wednesdays, 4:30-6:30 pm, Cleveland Park, 1600 8th Ave. SW Thursdays, 1:30-3:30 pm, Greene Square, 400 4th Ave. SE The Library’s new Mobile Technology… View more
Laptops now available to borrow from Cedar Rapids Public Library
The Cedar Rapids Public Library now has laptop kits available for patrons to borrow and take home from the Downtown and Ladd Libraries. The kits are part of an effort to expand internet and computer access for patrons, a need highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to offer options for patrons who prefer home access… View more
Downtown Library Open Sundays Beginning May 2
The Downtown Cedar Rapids Public Library will open on Sundays 1 pm – 5 pm, beginning May 2, 2021. Patrons are invited to take advantage of these additional hours to access the Library’s Grab and Go services: up to 30 minutes of browsing and materials checkout, or up to 2 hours on a public computer…. View more
Through pandemic, volunteers step up to help meet growing Library needs
When Dona Ditri walks into the Library, she said she feels like she’s home. “The Library is my happy place, and I just love it. The people, the staff, are so friendly and appreciative,” she said. “And now that the patrons are allowed back in, I love helping them.” As a volunteer on the Holds… View more
New and notable recommendations for National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and Librarian Kim Martens-Tyo gathered this list of recommended titles that are currently part of the Library’s collection or are on-order. All were published in 2020 or 2021, and they represent a diverse range of voices and poetry styles, from a collection documenting African American poetic history (African American Poetry:… View more
Urban Dreams brings job help, food pantry to Ladd Library
The Urban Dreams Cedar Rapids Food Pantry opens at the Ladd Library on April 15 at 9 am. Regular operating hours will be Tuesday and Thursday, 9 am to 5 pm. Walk-ins are welcome. Masks and physical distancing are required. This article is from the spring edition of OPEN+ magazine, available at the Library and… View more
Read Woke: In conversation with Monsoon Asian and Pacific Islanders in Solidarity
Lata D’Mello, Co-Director of Programs at Monsoon Asian and Pacific Islanders in Solidarity, spoke with Librarian Meredith Crawford for the latest installment of the Cedar Rapids Public Library’s Read Woke discussion series highlighting organizations and books that center marginalized groups. The conversation followed the March 16 shooting in Atlanta that killed eight, including six women… View more
‘Welcome to your library’ is National Library Week theme
April 4-10 is National Library Week, and this year’s theme from the American Library Association is “Welcome to your library.” Though the Cedar Rapids Public Library closed its doors in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, staff worked hard to pivot and find ways to keep welcoming patrons through digital services, curbside hold pickup,… View more
How do you measure a pandemic year?
One year ago, on March 16, 2020, the Cedar Rapids Public Library shut our doors in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, staff has worked hard to find ways to safely serve our patrons and the Cedar Rapids community. The Library started curbside hold pick ups and virtual programming to keep reaching patrons at… View more
Thousands of new courses available as Lynda.com becomes LinkedIn Learning
What you can find on LinkedIn Learning LeadershipProject ManagementMental wellnessSalesJob HuntingPhotographyVideography3D and AnimationCADCloud ComputingPythonExcelData ScienceDigital MarketingAnd more! Lynda.com, a database of training courses available for access to Library patrons, is transitioning to LinkedIn Learning. Lynda.com users will see a new look when they log on as of Monday, March 15 – and thousands of additional… View more
Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation Receives Million Dollar Bequest
The Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation announced this week it is the sole beneficiary of the Nadine E. Sandberg Estate, which is valued in excess of $1 million. “Mrs. Sandberg has left us a truly transformational gift,” Foundation Director Charity Tyler said. “We are grateful for her investment in this community and excited to use… View more
Women’s History Month: Celebrating women’s lives through literature
March is Women’s History Month, and Librarian Heather Meyer-Boothby has curated a list of recommended reads. Narrowing down a short list wasn’t easy when considering the literary impact of half of humanity. “I picked voices that I felt have had a profound cultural impact on women’s lives. I didn’t reach back into classics so much… View more
Honoring (Trans) Women Characters in Children’s Books
I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings This picture book, perfect for young children and families, features a simplified life story of real trans woman and co-author, Jazz Jennings. It features a young Jazz as she works to recognize herself and explain to her family who she really is. Jennings has gone on… View more
Workforce development is part of Library’s strategic plan
This article is from the spring edition of OPEN+ magazine, available at the Library and metro-area Hy-Vees or online: fliphtml5.com/homepage/rofy Whether you’re looking for help updating a resume, finding job opportunities, practicing for an interview or getting training in a new job field, the Library has resources to help. Workforce development is part of the… View more
How Library volunteers are using YouTube to make programming more accessible
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Library’s YouTube channel didn’t get much use. There were only 20 videos uploaded in its first five years. Then, the pandemic hit, the Library doors temporarily closed, and in-person programming ground to a sudden halt. “Our programming team did an amazing job of pivoting to online programs,” said Library volunteer… View more
Read Woke: Books about protest and social justice
Throughout the Library’s Read Woke program, our librarians have been interviewing community members and collecting book recommendations designed to challenge people to educate themselves about others through deliberate, thoughtful reading. For the “Read Woke: Policing and Protest” program, African American Museum of Iowa Executive Director LaNisha Cassell discussed the museum, how the museum’s “Unwavering: 21st… View more
Support for Job Seekers
There are many tools available to anyone who is seeking a new job, looking for a new opportunity, or needs help navigating the unemployment process. The Library has gathered our best resources at CRLibrary.org/skills to make it as simple as possible. One of the greatest tools we have during this time of remote learning and virtual… View more
Picture Books Celebrating Black Hair
Cool Cuts and Happy Hair by Mechal Renee Roe These two picture books from Roe celebrate many different haircuts and styles for Black children with full page illustrations. Each beautiful, confidence-boosting style highlighting variations in hair texture from person to person is paired with affirmations to charge up self-esteem. Cool Cuts is intended for masculine-presenting… View more
Black History Month
Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American female astronaut is quoted as saying, “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” During Black History month we celebrate the unending creative contributions of the African American community. The unlimited imagination that Black excellence has modeled through history is witnessed in the American canon; whether it is W.E.B…. View more
Library Opens for Grab and Go Services
Both locations of the Cedar Rapids Public Library are now open for Grab and Go from the Stacks in addition to curbside holds pickup. “The Library continues to adjust our service model to provide access in the safest way possible,” said Dara Schmidt, Cedar Rapids Public Library Director. “We are reopening our grab and go… View more
Inauguration Day 2021
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
Top Book Titles of 2020
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
Happy New Year
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
Staff Picks of 2020
See what the Cedar Rapids Public Library staff was reading and watching in 2020.
A Pandemic Year in Review
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
Books Like Us
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
CRPL Recipient of Beanstack Black Voices MicroGrant
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
Chat with Us
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
Cedar Rapids Public Library Returns to Curbside Services Only
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
National Native American Heritage Month
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
November is Family Literacy Month
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
CHOMP Brings Books to Your Door
CHOMP Delivery service is now serving up your next great reads – directly to your door! CHOMP offers doorstep delivery of Cedar Rapids Public Library holds to homes in the Cedar Rapids area for a small fee. “The Library is always looking for opportunities to improve access for our community,” said Dara Schmidt, Cedar Rapids… View more
New Items Added to the Collection
Did you know that the Library is constantly adding new items to our collection? There is a regular influx of new and newly added items throughout the Library, organized in some easy to reference sections labeled with “NEW” signs. Our new fiction section in the Children’s Library Downtown is packed with a diverse selection of… View more
HelpNow Offers On Demand Student Supports
Students now have access to HelpNow by Brainfuse – on demand personalized homework help in core subjects (math, reading, writing, science and social studies), skill building, test prep, and free online tutors available daily from 2 pm – 11 pm. HelpNow provides differentiated learning solutions for students of diverse needs and backgrounds. Students communicate with… View more
Celebrate Banned Books Week
Banned Books Week (September 27 – October 3, 2020) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. It brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of… View more
CRCSD Student IDs Now Act as Library Cards
All students in the Cedar Rapids Community School District (CRCSD) now have a library card at their fingertips in the form of their Student ID. The Cedar Rapids Public Library has collaborated with CRCSD to turn Student ID numbers into Library Cards as of the beginning of the school year. “This collaboration brings public library… View more
That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston
This alternative history for young adults stars Victoria-Margaret, crown princess of the British Empire. She is to spend an incognito summer of debutante balls and negotiations in Canada as she quietly gets to know August Callaghan, a potential husband, away from the glare of London. Genetics is the crown jewel of the Empire where politically… View more
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Bree Matthews is a lot of things in this fantasy young adult work from Tracy Deonn. She’s Black. She’s young (and graduated early from high school to be accepted into an early college program at UNC-Chapel Hill). She’s grieving the recent death of her mother and the anger of a life unlived. But she is… View more
Grab and Go from the Stacks
Update October 8, 2020 Grab and Go Hours at both locations as of Monday, October 12, 2020: Monday – Thursday, 9 am – 8 pmFriday – Saturday, 9 am – 5 pm The Cedar Rapids Public Library is open at both locations select hours for Grab and Go from the Stacks in addition to curbside holds… View more
Opportunity Center Opens for Coworking
The Opportunity Center at the Ladd Library will open for four hour sessions the remainder of this week to provide a location for people needing space to work remotely. A limited number of individuals can call to reserve a space at the Opportunity Center to bring their technology (laptop or tablet) and connect to the… View more
Grab and Go Holds Pickup Now Available at Both Locations
UPDATE 8/25The Ladd Library is now open for computer use by appointment and grab and go holds. Grab and Go Holds are now available 10 am – 7 pm M-TH and 10 am – 4 pm Friday and Saturday. Once notified holds are available, patrons are invited to visit the Library during these hours to… View more
Resources for Storm Recovery
If You Need Assistance: 211 General Assistance Food, funding, and shelter Dial 2-1-1, text your zip code to 899211 or visit 211iowa.org Food Pantries https://www.foodpantries.org/st/iowa Financial Help Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program Disaster Case Management Note: Make sure you’re keeping your receipts from disaster expenses (& pictures) for possible future assistance from feds. Mental Health… View more
Downtown Library Reopens Friday for Computer Appointments Only
Please sign up for an appointment online for now: CRLibrary.org/computers for details. Power has also been restored and some outlets are available on the plaza outside the building. Additionally, wifi is operating and pushes out into the plaza and around the Library, in the parking lot and sidewalk area. Please feel free to connect and… View more
The Power of Play
Ask any early childhood advocate and they will share with you the important role play has in the classroom or child care setting. The role of play is a hot topic with the push to make education at all levels more rigorous. Kindergarten classrooms are being required to remove center time from their schedules. Recess… View more
The Library is Fine Free
The Cedar Rapids Public Library, along with the Hiawatha Public Library and the Marion Public Library, are officially fine free. Overdue fines have been removed from patrons account. “The mission of our libraries is to provide equal and universal access to information for all of our citizens,” said Dara Schmidt, Cedar Rapids Public Library Director…. View more
Read Woke
The Cedar Rapids Public Library invites you to a new reading challenge: Read Woke. Provided in partnership with Beanstack, the online platform we use for all our reading programs, and activist librarian Cicely Lewis, Read Woke is designed to challenge people to educate themselves about others through deliberate, thoughtful reading. Started in 2017 as a way to… View more
Summer Dare Continues in July
The Summer Dare is on and we want everyone to keep reading and logging their minutes throughout the month of July. So far our community has logged more than 380,000 minutes so far – that’s almost 6,300 hours of reading time since June 6! Register for the Summer Dare and use our no-contact curbside holds… View more
Black American Children’s/YA Authors to Celebrate
Historian and author Ibram X. Kendi has published five books and countless articles on the construction of an anti-racist movement including the 2016 National Book Award winner Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America and the New York Times bestseller How to Be an Anti-Racist. His 2016 work was adapted with author Jason Reynolds… View more
The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
Humans are incredibly complex and incredibly simple and poet Dean Atta displays this poignantly in his debut novel The Black Flamingo. This bildungsroman follows Michael as he grows to understand himself through his Jamaican-Greek Cypriot heritage while growing up in London and accepting his queerness. Struggling to make friends, Michael is faithfully dedicated to Daisy… View more
Celebrate Pride Month with These Titles
LGBTQ+ Pride Month occurs in June in the United States to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which occurred at the end of June 1969. We have gathered together some selected titles available for download through the OverDrive or Libby app using just your library card.
Resources on Anti-Racism
The Cedar Rapids Public Library holds equity as one of our guiding principles and inclusion as a strategy for growth. We stand with our staff, patrons, trustees, and community in the refusal to accept racism in our country, and are committed to educating ourselves and providing resources for all who would like to learn to be better… View more
A Statement on Race and Social Equity
The Cedar Rapids Public Library holds equity as one of our guiding principles and inclusion as a strategy for growth. Throughout history, institutions like public libraries have striven to be open for all, while at the same time continuing long-standing modes of institutional racism. The Cedar Rapids Public Library has made steps forward in the… View more
Book Drops Now Open
Materials can now be returned to Metro Library book drops, including those at the Downtown Library and Ladd Library, as well as the book drops at metro area HyVee stores. Items returned to the Library will be quarantined for 72 hours as a safety precaution after being returned to the Cedar Rapids Public Library. There… View more
Curbside Holds Pickup Begins May 22
The Metro Library Network, comprised of the Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha, and Marion Public Libraries, will begin offering low or no-contact curbside hold pickup of library materials beginning Friday, May 22. All metro libraries are currently closed to the public to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. All library programs and events, both… View more
To Our Community
To Our Community, We have missed seeing you in person over the past several weeks. We hope you are staying safe and healthy and have been able to use our Library-at-Home resources including our ebooks, audiobooks, and virtual programs. As the state begins a reopening process, your library staff is working hard on a… View more
Asian and Asian American Children’s/YA Authors to Celebrate
Beloved actor, author, and activist George Takei is many things to many people; Sulu, helmsman of the U.S.S. Enterprise on Star Trek, Broadway performer, groundbreaking activist for LGBTQIA+ people as well as Asian and Asian Americans, and author of the bestselling They Called Us Enemy, a graphic memoir of his childhood in the American concentration camps during… View more
Time to Laugh Out Loud!
Stephen Colbert said, “you can’t laugh and be afraid at the same.” In that case, as long as you’re reading this book, you’ll forget about everything else going on around you in the world right now. Wow, no thank you is the refreshing distraction you need in your life. A series of essays written by… View more
Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan
In Empress, Ruby Lal tells a story that many have tried to erase from history. Her lyric writing at times also paints a stunning opulence of a royal ruling class that out does what can be found in a lot of fiction. By piecing together fragments from different sources, Lal traces the history of Nur… View more
Never Let Me Go
Our staff is taking time right now to share reviews of some of the books, movies, and music they’re enjoying during their time at home. The views are uniquely their own. Be sure to tell us what you think! Never Let Me Go by Kazua Ishiguro Do you ever get in a reading funk? I… View more
Colson Whitehead-America’s Storyteller
US author Colson Whitehead has become only the fourth writer ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction twice. If you’ve read his work and watched interviews with him, it’s easy to see why. He takes his time, he hones his craft over many years and he’s so humble and conversational. It took him a… View more
Thank You to Our Library Volunteers
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is honored to work with a dedicated, diverse group of community volunteers. Volunteers are vital to the Library’s ability to effectively and efficiently meet its mission. Volunteer assistance with programs, patrons, and materials engages individuals and organizations to invest in their Library and strengthen their community. In April, we virtually… View more
All that Hoopla!- National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, but like any special month like this one, I think poetry should be read year-round. Poetry houses the framework for language. For children, it can highlight imagery, diction, rhyme and phonetics. As we get older, great poems express the human condition in bite-sized nuggets of gold. At any rate, there… View more
Happy Earth Day!
Earth Day began in 1970 and was recognized worldwide in 1990 where it is celebrated in 192 countries according to the non-profit Earth Day Network. It is a day when we come together globally and locally to ask we can better conserve resources and raise public awareness about the issues and challenges that face our… View more
National Library Workers Day
The staff of the Cedar Rapids Public Library are working to serve the community and provide great programs, resources, and connections from home. We celebrate them today as a part of National Library Workers Day and National Library Week.
Practical Centering
Our staff is taking time right now to share reviews of some of the books, movies, and music they’re enjoying during their time at home. The views are uniquely their own. Be sure to tell us what you think! Practical Centering by Larkin Barnett is a book that teaches different breathing techniques, visualization, and movements… View more
Celebrate National Library Week with Your Library
National Library Week (April 19 – 25, 2020) is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and library workers and to promote library use and support. This year, the Cedar Rapids Public Library wants to celebrate the Library at Your Place. We are excited to share a special message just for you from award-winning author… View more
All the Hoopla! Music Picks
Hoopla is an online resource you can use from the comfort of your couch. To use it, simply go to the Cedar Rapids Public Library website (crlibrary.org), click on Resources and Services and select Hoopla. Once there you’ll be prompted for your library card. Log in as a Cedar Rapids or Marion resident. You’re now… View more
Jumanji: The Next Level
Our staff is taking time right now to share reviews of some of the books, movies, and music they’re enjoying during their time at home. The views are uniquely their own. Be sure to tell us what you think! Growing up, I read and greatly enjoyed the imaginative book Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg. A… View more
BINGO
Library staff have created another fun and easy at-home game the whole family can play while staying home and staying safe. Check out our special Distraction BINGO featuring tons of great Library resources you can find online. Distraction Bingo
Managing Fear
Times are strange right now. Because of the corona virus, all of a sudden we are practicing Social Distancing- a term that most of us have probably never heard of before. We’ve also kicked up our personal hygiene by three notches, namely by washing our hands with soap and water for 20 seconds. Not five… View more
Top Kanopy Picks-Movies
Kanopy is a streaming service you can access from the comfort of your couch. To access simply go to our website (crlibrary.org,) click on the resources and services tab and select Kanopy. From there you’ll have access to thousands of movies and documentaries the New York Times referred to as “a garden of cinematic delights”…. View more
You’ve Got Fifteen Seconds!
It seems we are all looking for new ways to entertain ourselves and our family during this difficult time. Our staff has developed a fun game you can print and play at home! Take advantage of this opportunity to do something a little less high-tech and more family focused. YOU’VE GOT FIFTEEN SECONDS! SET UP… View more
Assistance Resources for COVID-19 Hardships
During the COVID-19 crisis many of us have been facing unexpected hardships. Our neighbors have lost their jobs, are struggling to find food staples for their family, or no longer have access to childcare. If you or someone you know needs assistance in these areas or others, please take a look at the resources linked… View more
All that Hoopla!- TV Shows
Hoopla is an online resource you can use from the comfort of your couch. To use it, simply go to the Cedar Rapids Public Library website (crlibrary.org), click on Resources and Services and select Hoopla. Once there you’ll be prompted for your library card. Log in as a Cedar Rapids or Marion resident. You’re now… View more
Children’s Book Series and Where to Find Them
With our community working hard to stay home and healthy, it might be difficult to figure out what to read next! Check out this Childrens Fiction Series List and start a new series for yourself or as a family read aloud. This list includes the series name as well as the first title in the series to… View more
All The Hoopla!
What’s All the Hoopla?- Elementary Edition Hoopla is an online resource you can use from the comfort of your couch. To use it, simply go to the Cedar Rapids Public Library website (crlibrary.org), click on Resources and Services and select Hoopla. Once there you’ll be prompted for your library card. Log in as a Cedar… View more
We Seek Your Stories for Archival Project
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is seeking stories from the community on how they are being impacted by the Coronavirus or COVID-19. “Libraries are places where stories are kept and shared,” said Dara Schmidt, Library Director. “In this new chapter in our history the Cedar Rapids Public Library wants to be sure we are gathering… View more
March Reads
I have just finished the latest Erik Larson book The Splendid and the Vile. It’s about the first year in Winston Churchill’s premiership. That year coincided with the London Blitz where German bombers pelted London and other British cities with bombs for weeks. I really like Larson’s works. He brings history alive and presents things in… View more
Spring into Reading
Now is the perfect time to challenge yourself during our Spring into Reading program. Read 360 minutes and explore some fun at-home activities between now and April 30 to complete the program. Put your reading minutes into our online system and earn your badges. This program is great for the entire family. Click here to… View more
Curbside Hold Ends and Drop Offs Closed UPDATE 3-21
As part of our continued commitment to our community’s health and safety, we are monitoring and responding to guidelines from local and state authorities, as well as working closely with our local municipalities. We are also following communication from the State Library as each day unfolds. In response to these guidelines, we are announcing two… View more
The Library and Coronavirus – UPDATE 03/16/20
UPDATE 3/16/20 The Cedar Rapids Public Library values the health and safety of our community. In response to the latest information from the Iowa Department of Public Health, the Cedar Rapids Public Library is closed to the public starting March 16 until further notice. We are committed to offering a safe workplace for staff while… View more
Digital Resources Available
The Cedar Rapids Public Library has a wide variety of free digital resources available to entertain, educate, and enhance quality of life available to anyone with a library card – all without leaving the comfort of home! Online resources include ebooks and magazines, audiobooks, streaming music, tv, and movies. Resources include: Cloud Library: Cloud Library… View more
Ready 10!
Have you ever wondered what you can do to help a young child be ready for school? Ready 10! is an initiative supported by Cedar Rapids Community School District, College Community Schools, Linn Mar School District, and Marion ISD aimed at helping support the work of parents & caregivers as they raise children to be… View more
Black History Month Kick-Off!
February is Black History Month and we are kicking it off with a special event on Saturday, February 1, 2020. This is a wonderful opportunity for the Cedar Rapids Public Library to connect with partners in the community (such as the African American Museum of Iowa) and present a day of celebration and education. We’ll look… View more
Public Sector Job Fair
The Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission invites you to learn about current employment opportunities and employment criteria to better prepare for jobs in the public sector. January 17, 2020 from 3:00 – 4:30 PM in the Commons of the Downtown Library Job Fair Representatives Include: City of Cedar Rapids Linn County Cedar Rapids Community School… View more
Warm Up with a Winter Reading Challenge
The Cedar Rapids Public Library invites everyone to warm up with a good book this January as part of the 2019 Winter Reading Challenge. Participants are asked to read 300 minutes between December 31 and January 31 in order to win a color changing cup or campfire mug. Readers of all ages can visit CRLibrary.beanstack.org… View more
Spark a new interest at the Library!
Libraries across the country are transforming how they serve their communities. New programs pop up to meet current trends; new platforms are developed to support emerging technologies; and new materials are added to library collections. The Cedar Rapids Public Library has a very special collection of items called Spark Kits, which are specifically designed to… View more
Fine Free Starting July 1, 2020
The Metro Library Network, made up of the Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha, and Marion public libraries, is proud to announce that the three libraries in the network will eliminate overdue fines on library materials effective July 1, 2020. “The mission of our libraries is to provide equal and universal access to information for all of our… View more
Winter Goals
Ladies, gentleman, and non binary friends- I have news. Winter is here. We can deny it all we want, but we know it is just around the corner. This time it is not playing by any rules either. I don’t think I have ever before seen fall leaves on top of winter snow. Have you?… View more
Stay Healthy This Winter at the Library
The Cedar Rapids Public Library invites everyone to stay healthy and engaged with their community this winter, despite falling temperatures. The Library offers a variety of programs to keep everyone moving, learning, and creating throughout the cold weather months. Programs include: Cooking Up Nostalgia: Bring your favorite recipes and stories from days gone by! We’ll… View more
Holiday Book Selections
With the holidays fast approaching, there are a number of great new book selections to get you in the spirit. The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper As the sun set on the shortest day of the year, early people would gather to prepare for the long night ahead. They built fires and lit candles. They… View more
I’m Not Really A Waitress: How One Woman Took Over the Beauty Industry One Color At a Time
If you’re a manicure aficionado, you’ve probably heard of a nail polish company called OPI. (In fact, you’re probably wearing one of their colors right now.) Lincoln Park After Dark and Let Me Bayou a Drink are just two of the whimsically-named polishes this company has produced over the years. If you know OPI, then it’s time… View more
Food for Fines 2019
The Metro Library Network announced today that the three libraries in the network will again accept non-perishable food items in lieu of fines for overdue materials from November 1-30, 2019. All food items will go to the HACAP Food Reservoir. Library patrons may bring one non-perishable item for each $1 owed for overdue library material…. View more
Dystopian Days
Dystopian fiction has had a great deal of readership in the past few years and recently released titles such as Margaret Atwood’s “The Testaments” continue to check out at a quick pace. We have several copies of her book available in our collection, including some Quick Pick copies with 10-day checkouts which may be available… View more
Picture Book Biographies
Picture book biographies are a growing trend in publishing. They are narrative nonfiction books which are written like a story making them appealing to children. They tend to be beautifully illustrated and easy to read, and offer young learners an excellent introduction to some of the most important people in our history. Some examples of… View more
The Water Dancer
The Water Dancer is the latest release by best-selling author Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Beautiful Struggle, We Were Eight Years in Power, Between the World and Me) and can now be checked out at your library. Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her—but… View more
Personal Stories
Personal stories. We all have them. Some might be better than others, but that also depends on how you tell them. Reading each other’s personal stories is one way we connect with one another. We’ll read someone else’s memoir and might find a nugget of fact that corresponds to our own lives. Suddenly we have… View more
Batman and Hoopla
I’m trying to be less reliant on my phone for everything. Between work, playing games, and those time sucking social media apps whose purpose I’m always questioning, I am on my phone way too much. I didn’t want to find another use for it, but then two great forces converged and made it well worth… View more
Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha
I’m fascinated with epic stories tied to different religions. Although I was familiar with some of principles of Buddhism and knew some details on the story of Gautama Buddha, I didn’t realize how much of the story I was unaware of till I read Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha that is available from the Downtown Library. This… View more
Iowa City Book Festival
The annual Iowa City Book Festival will be held October 1-6, 2019. If you are a book lover and interested in exploring some amazing authors, this is a wonderful opportunity! The Book Festival includes author events with Raj Patel, John Sanford, James Geary, Kei Miller, Lauren Markham, Don Waters and so much more. Events take… View more
If You Love “The Gone Dead” Then Try These Titles
One of our newest digital resources, hoopla, provides access to a variety of movies, music, ebooks, and audiobooks, all at your fingertips with your library card. You can download the hoopla app or visit the website and login with your card number to begin streaming your favorite things. If you are a fan of The Gone… View more
Books to Read This Fall
Fall is here and that means it’s time for a new batch of must-read books. We have selected ten titles we believe you’ll enjoy and put them in our Fall issue of OPEN+ magazine. Check out the selection and put a hold on your pick today.
A Refreshing and Accessible Window into the Wonders of Mythology
I fell in love with the wonders of Mythology in college. It was the similarities between mythologies that grabbed me at first, like the reoccurring stories of younger gods defeating older gods. But as I delved deeper into it, I became equally fascinated with how different cultures in different landscapes view the world with fascinating originality. There… View more
New Service Alert!
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is now offering a new digital service called Hoopla, offering Cedar Rapids citizens access to downloadable audiobooks, ebooks, music, comics, movies, and television delivered directly to your device. “Hoopla offers access to a new library of digital content for our community,” said Dara Schmidt, Director of the Cedar Rapids Public… View more
Cuz I Love You
Summer finally arrived! I had doubts for the entirety of June when it seemed we were stuck in a November-like rain and cold schedule. Now those rains have left the ground saturated for the perpetual state of humidity/corn sweat we are now in. Recently a patron reminded me that only six months ago the temperature… View more
Ladd Library Adds Saturday Hours
The Ladd Library will open on Saturdays from 9 am to 5 pm beginning July 1. The additional open hours come two years after budget cuts forced a reduction in service hours at both Cedar Rapids Public Library locations. “We are very excited to be able to offer additional hours for our community,” said Dara… View more
Teen Camps Offer Unique Summer Experiences at the Cedar Rapids Public Library
Teens ages 12 – 18 are DARED to register for free half-day camps at the Cedar Rapids Public Library as part of the 2019 Summer Dare. The 2019 Summer Dare is not your average summer reading program. It is an intergenerational summer learning program that challenges the entire community to get out, explore, learn, connect,… View more
Celebrate National Library Week
April 7-13, the Cedar Rapids Public Library joins libraries nationwide in celebrating the many ways libraries lead their communities through the transformative services, programs and expertise they offer. April 7-13 is National Library Week, an annual celebration of the life-changing work of libraries, librarians and library workers. Libraries aren’t just places to borrow books… View more
Text Message Notifications are Here!
The Metro Library Network is excited to offer a new notification service: text messaging. Patrons are invited to update their contact information if they would like to begin receiving text message notifications when holds are available and when an item is overdue. Patrons are also able to sign up for email notifications as well, which… View more
12th Annual Out Loud! Author Series to Feature Three Nationally Recognized Authors
Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series brings another solid set of authors to the metro area this summer for the 12th consecutive year. The collaborative program of the Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha, and Marion Public Libraries will present Craig Johnson, Cristina Henríquez, and Jennifer Weiner on three Friday nights in June at the Hotel… View more
Mission Creek Festival
Mission Creek Festival in Iowa City is April 2-7th at various venues around town. The festival is mixture of literature, music and film. There will be several indie recording artists performing: Mitski – whose album ‘Be the Cowboy’ has gotten great press has sold out the Englert on Friday, April 5th, and Jenny Lewis, on… View more
Spring Programs 2019
Our spring issue of OPEN has hit shelves and it is full of programs and activities for the whole family to enjoy.
Third Annual Community Cultural Celebration and Expo
Community organizations and cultural groups from across the area will come together to share what makes them unique and to increase awareness of the diversity we find around us. The third annual Community Cultural Celebration and Expo will be held at the Cedar Rapids Public Library from 10 am to 2 pm on Saturday, March… View more
The Binti trilogy made me fall in love with sci-fi all over again.
I appreciate sci-fi that takes me into a fantastical place and simultaneously reminds me of the wonders of the real world. From the beginning it was clear that this trilogy was going to do that for me. Set in a future with plenty of alien cultures and interactions, our protagonist Binti is a member of the… View more
Greg Pak’s Hulk is a SMASH of good story telling.
I’ve been a comic book fan for quite a while. I’ll read a whole series of trade paper backs by one writer on one character at a time. My ongoing adventure is with the writer Greg Pak and the Hulk. To the new reader, or to those following his cinematic interpretation in the Marvel movies, The… View more
Winter Reading Challenge 2019
The Cedar Rapids Public Library invites everyone to warm up with a good book this January as part of the 2019 Winter Reading Challenge. Participants are asked to read 300 minutes between January 1 and 31 in order to win a color changing cup or campfire mug. Readers of all ages can visit CRLibrary.beanstack.org… View more
Staff Picks of 2018
As we wrap up another wonderful year at the Cedar Rapids Public Library, we would like to express our gratitude to our patrons, our volunteers, our community partners, and our donors for their endless support. You have walked with us on our mission to serve as a beacon of literacy to those in our community… View more
For All Families
Families come in all shapes and sizes and can experience so many changes from divorce to a new baby. This fall even the Library welcomed a new addition – the Family section – in the Downtown children’s library. This section is full of picture books featuring predominately human characters with different family structures. These families… View more
White Lights Holiday Music Series
The holiday season is in full swing at the Library and we have some delightful musical performances scheduled throughout December to get you in the spirit. The White Lights Holiday Series presents music in the Downtown Library Commons on Saturday afternoons. Each performance is free and open to all. December 1, 2 pm: Merry TubaChristmas!… View more
Food for Fines 2018
The Metro Library Network will accept non-perishable food items in lieu of fines for overdue materials from November 1-30, 2018. All food items will go to the HACAP Food Reservoir. Library patrons may bring one non-perishable item for each $1 owed for overdue library material. All three libraries will also accept food contributions from people… View more
Consumer Reports at the Library
Consumer Reports is one of the latest online resources available with your library card. Card holders can access the full online database of consumer reviews and research through the Library’s website: CRLibrary.org/resourcesservices. Consumer Reports is a wonderful resource for anyone looking to make a purchase, whether that is a new car, a mattress, or even… View more
Downloadable Audiobooks from the Library
Take your latest read with you anywhere you go using free downloadable audiobooks from the Cedar Rapids Public Library. The Library offers several ways in which you can access audiobooks to be downloaded directly to your mobile device. Overdrive offers access to a collection of popular audio and ebooks from amazing authors like from authors… View more
Reality Bites Takes on Politics
The Cedar Rapids Public Library invites the community to engage in discussions and dialogues about complex topics through a new series called “Reality Bites”. This participatory series involves learning, discussing, and sharing. “The program was designed to address salient issues in our community; like race, immigration, mental health, and politics,” said Victoria Fernandez, Patron… View more
An Update on Two-Way Conversions
Two-Way Conversions 7-27-18 5th Avenue SE downtown is now open to two-way traffic. The Union Pacific Railroad has completed the installation of new safety gates and crossing arms at the 4th Street railroad tracks on 5th Avenue. Work has also been completed on the underground storm sewer, pedestrian improvements, pavement restoration, and new pavement markings… View more
5th Avenue is Open
The Downtown Library is now accessible through 5th Avenue. The two-way conversion is complete on 5th Avenue and is nearly finished on 4th Avenue as well. Fifth street is still down to one lane accessible only from the 4th Avenue side for the time being. Thank you for your patience as we continue to monitor… View more
Hours Change Effective July 1
The Cedar Rapids Public Library will increase hours in both locations beginning Sunday, July 1, 2018. The Downtown Library will open from 1 pm to 5 pm on Sundays. The Ladd Library will open an hour earlier, at 8 am, on Monday-Thursday. “We are very happy to be able to increase hours at both locations… View more
June 26 Construction Update
Two-Way Conversions Update 6-26-18 Progress continues around the Downtown Library as we near July. The intersection at 5th Avenue and 5th Street should open by the end of this week, however traffic can’t cross the railroad tracks until new signals and lights are up. Once 5th Avenue partially opens, 5th Street will close through the… View more
Construction Update June 20
Two-Way Conversions Update from the City of Cedar Rapids 6-20-18 The Union Pacific Railroad continues to work on the installation of safety gates and crossing arms downtown. Gates and crossing arms on both sides of the roadway are necessary for two-way traffic flow. Below is a summary of the work currently taking place: 2nd Avenue… View more
Construction Continues Downtown
Construction continues on the two-way conversion project in downtown Cedar Rapids. Beginning Monday, June 11, the Downtown Library will not be accessible via 5th Avenue. Patrons can access the parking lot through the entrance on 5th Street, but we ask you to be mindful of the traffic and construction. Access is limited to one car… View more
2018 Summer Dare
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is daring YOU to connect with the community and keep learning all summer long. The 2018 Summer Dare is not your average summer reading program. It is an inter-generational summer learning program that challenges the entire community to get out, explore, learn, connect, and, of course, read. “Participating in a… View more
Freegal Mixtapes
Mixtapes are an effervescent, emotionally-illusive, and joyful instrument of expression. Created by yourself they are a reflection of a curated collection that has its perennial go to songs, beats and rhythms that allow someone else to feel how you do, or the opposite, for you to feel how they do. They can also be a… View more
Cedar Rapids Public Library Board Approves Additional Hours Beginning July 1
April 6, 2018– The Cedar Rapids Public Library Board of Trustees voted on Thursday evening to approve additional hours for library access beginning July 1, 2018. The Downtown Library will be open on Sundays from 1 pm – 5 pm. The Ladd Library will be open an hour early on Monday-Thursday from 8 am –… View more
Linn County Master Gardeners Workshops in April
The Linn County Master Gardeners will present a series of workshops this April at the Ladd Library. These free workshops include information on a variety of spring gardening topics. Each program is at 6:30 pm and registration is not required. April 4: Raised Bed Gardening No space for a garden? You can plant enough vegetables… View more
Cedar Rapids Public Library Takes on Complex Issues with “Reality Bites” Series
The Cedar Rapids Public Library invites the community to engage in discussions and dialogues about complex topics through a new series called “Reality Bites”. This participatory series involves learning, discussing, and sharing. “The program was designed to address salient issues in our community; like race, immigration, mental health and politics,” said Victoria Fernandez, Patron Services… View more
Black History Month
Cedar Rapids Public Library Honors Black History Month The Cedar Rapids Public Library, along with libraries across the country and Canada, come together in February to observe Black History Month. As we celebrate Black History Month, it is important to recognize how far we’ve come in the fight to achieve racial equity and just as… View more
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History
Since my daughter was a very little girl we’ve read books together. In the early days this was easily accomplished. Bedtime stories and cuddling on the couch with picture books brought smiles all around. As she has gotten older this has become more of a challenge. We compete with schoolwork, screen time, and activities of… View more
Planning for the Future
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is seeking your input as we put together our next 3-5 year Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan will define the priorities of the Library over the coming years and help to establish goals and allocate our resources accordingly. All members of the community are invited to attend a Public Input… View more
Automatic for the People Re-Issue
R.E.M. released a twenty fifth anniversary edition of Automatic for the People late October of 2017 (this means it was originally released in October of 1992) that comes with a live recording from the 40 Watt Club in Athens Georgia, as well as a twenty four page booklet that includes liner notes and interviews from… View more
Mid-Winter Renaissance Faire at the Downtown Library January 20
The Mid-Winter Renaissance Faire is back and better than ever at the Cedar Rapids Public Library on Saturday, January 20, from 10 am to 4 pm. Everyone is invited to attend the only indoor Renaissance Faire in Iowa. Be a spectator to live sword fights, have an audience with the king and queen, and interact… View more
Cedar Rapids Public Library Adds Film Streaming Service, Kanopy
The popular on-demand video streaming service Kanopy is now available for free through the Cedar Rapids Public Library. Cedar Rapids Public Library card holders can access Kanopy and sign up to start streaming films on demand instantly by visiting https://crlibrary.kanopystreaming.com. Offering what the New York Times calls “a garden of cinematic delights,” Kanopy showcases more… View more
Linn County Master Gardeners
The Linn County Master Gardeners are presenting a series of classes in December at the Ladd Library. These classes are free and open to all! Each one is held at 6:30 pm in the Community Room at the Ladd Library. December 6: New Perennials 2017–Garden Catalogs are full of amazing perennials. Learn how to select… View more
Give Where Your Heart Is
The Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation makes a difference in our community and you can help! Tuesday, November 29 is #GivingTuesday, an opportunity to give where your heart is and support the local nonprofits who do great work in your community. The Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation needs your support. They fund programming and services… View more
Fall for Garage Rock
If music genres and seasons pair well together like wine and cheese, then fall is garage rock season. Deep Scorpio skies call for fuzz tone effect peddles and leaves falling from trees recall amateurish lyrics that have more truth than practiced customer service greetings and little conversations. It’s the vehicle that allows us to understand… View more
Food for Fines 2017
The Metro Library Network will accept non-perishable food items in lieu of fines for overdue materials from November 1-30, 2017. All food items will go to the HACAP Food Reservoir. Library patrons may bring one non-perishable item for each $1 owed for overdue library material. All three libraries will also accept food contributions from people… View more
Vote Early at the Library
The Downtown Library will be a satellite voting location for the November 7 City Elections. Satellite voting will take place Wednesday, October 25, from Noon to 6 pm. Vote for City Council and Mayor races, and ballots will be available for all cities in Linn County. Forms will also be available to update voter registration…. View more
CRPL Recognized as Top Innovator by Urban Library Council
With funding around the United States and Canada constrained, libraries are leveraging the public’s investment by finding innovative approaches to strengthen their communities. The Urban Libraries Council recently recognized 10 libraries as “Top Innovators.” These libraries have proven themselves unfazed by the rough terrain and are providing their communities with essential resources through inventive programs…. View more
Celebrate the Freedom to Read September 24-30
The Cedar Rapids Public Library joins libraries across the country in bringing attention to the harms of censorship during Banned Books Week September 24-30. While books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available. This… View more
Resources and knowledge from your public library
In light of current events, the Metro Library Network has compiled a list of resources for awareness and knowledge. The public library is for everyone, everywhere. Libraries provide safe spaces for public dialogue and discourse, as well as equal access to information and resources. The very foundation of our democracy relies upon an educated and… View more
The Book of New Family Traditions
As a parent with a physical disability, I have always known there would be activities I could not do with my children. Anything that requires running, jumping, hopping, or kneeling and I’m left on the sidelines. This has only made me try harder to find things I can do with my family and make… View more
Back to School Resources from the Library
The Cedar Rapids Public Library has so much to offer students and parents as we enter another school year. Our library materials are always a resource for students, whether you are looking for a book to check out or for online resources to do research; we have it all! Our online databases offer instant access… View more
Two-Way Conversion Updates
UPDATE January 2018 Construction has stopped for the winter. We will begin new communication on the changes once we have an update from the City of Cedar Rapids in the spring. UPDATE October 2017 The City of Cedar Rapids has begun construction on 4th and 5th Avenue downtown. This may impact access to parking… View more
New Partnership Works to Digitize Local News for Future Generations
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is partnering with The Gazette and Advantage Companies to digitize past issues of The Gazette from 1857 through the present day. “In the past we would have been totally reliant on an outside vendor to provide access to this important historical archive,” said Erin Horst, Materials Manager at the Cedar… View more
The Happiness of Pursuit
I think it is common for us, as human beings, to search for purpose and meaning in our time on earth. Psychologist Erik Erikson reminds us that, in the final stage of life, our task is to look back on our journey and contemplate our achievements. Those who see their lives as unproductive experience despair…. View more
Summer Dare Celebration July 29 in Greene Square
The Cedar Rapids Public Library invites you to celebrate the end of the Summer Dare with our Summer Dare Celebration on Saturday, July 29, from 10 am to Noon in Greene Square. This community celebration is our final event in the 2017 Summer Dare, the Cedar Rapids Public Library’s intergenerational summer learning program. At 11… View more
Cedar Rapids Public Library Receives National Medal
The Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Dr. Kathryn K. Matthew, along with renowned journalist and reporter, Cokie Roberts, presented the Cedar Rapids Public Library with the 2017 National Medal for Museum and Library Service during a ceremony at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. this afternoon. For 23 years, the National… View more
Reading Into Success
Reading into Success is a local collaboration working to ensure children read proficiently by the end of third grade by leveraging the assets of the entire community. WHY DOES THIRD GRADE READING MATTER? After third grade an important shift happens in learning. The focus changes from teaching students to read to them having them read to learn…. View more
The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken
“Go and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here.” I rarely review just one book for Children’s books- not because there are few that are singularly amazing and stand alone. Rather there are so many books that it seems… View more
Road Trip Movie Mood
Summer is optimal road trip season – the weather’s warm, everything’s open, and if you had to sleep in your car you could. The best road trips are always those that plan themselves, they meander and go back to the two lane road. From this distance you can get a better view of individual lives that… View more
New in Children’s – June 2017
Inspired by the infamous rebuking of Senator Elizabeth Warren while reading the words of Coretta Scott King during the confirmation hearings of then-Senator Jeff Sessions, author Chelsea Clinton introduces 13 women in “She Persisted” who have shown persistence throughout American history. The women she chose to include this book are varied in race and career… View more
Beyond the headlines on life as a Syrian refugee
Last year I recommended Crossing the Sea: With Syrians on the Exodus to Europe by Wolfgang Bauer. As there, unfortunately, has been little positive change in the refugee crisis, it is still extremely topical, and I am suggesting two further titles to delve into this subject. The first one is called Stepping Stones: A Refugee… View more
2017 Summer Dare!
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is daring YOU to connect with the community and keep learning all summer long. The 2017 Summer Dare is not your average summer reading program. It is an intergenerational summer learning program that challenges the entire community to explore it, move it, rhyme it, celebrate it, connect it, imagine it,… View more
Summer Dare Kick Off Party at Ladd Library June 4
2017 Summer Dare Brochure-SMThe Cedar Rapids Public Library invites you to kick off summer learning with the Summer Dare Kick Off Party at the Ladd Library on Sunday, June 4, from 1 pm to 4 pm. Join us for face painting, the Jungle Bus (an inflatable experience for kids), carnival games, and fun with some… View more
Best of Book to Screen
Hulu’s adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is the latest example of fine literature being adapted for the small screen. In the past few years, dozens of successful books have turned into thoughtful, exciting, or fantastic screen versions of themselves. The Handmaid’s Tale, a streaming television event on Hulu, has already proven itself… View more
Cedar Rapids Public Library Wins National Medal
The Institute of Museum and Library Services today announced the Cedar Rapids Public Library as one of 10 recipients of the 2017 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries for service to the community. For 23 years, the award has celebrated institutions that respond to societal… View more
We DARE You This Summer!
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is daring YOU to connect with the community and keep learning all summer long. The 2017 Summer Dare is not your average summer reading program. It is an intergenerational summer learning program that challenges the entire community to explore it, move it, rhyme it, celebrate it, connect it, imagine it,… View more
New in Children’s – May 2017
Finding an engaging and interesting story to read to younger children isn’t necessarily difficult. Finding an engaging and interesting story that can help with word recognition can be. By using repetition and rhyme to describe a colorful cast of characters build a robot, children will have the opportunity to repeat phrases and make predictions with… View more
Ready Steady Cook!
You remember being a child and desperately wanting to make your parents a delicious breakfast in bed. You head to the kitchen to gather the flour, sugar, chocolate chips, maple syrup and black beans. Then you hit the fridge and grab eggs, milk, ginger and orange juice. You set about making the greatest breakfast on… View more
National Volunteer Week
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is grateful to the many people who volunteer with us each year who make it possible for us to do so much. We celebrate them during National Volunteer Week, April 24-28, and all year long. Here are just a few stories from some of our amazing volunteers.
Metro Library Network Lends WiFi Hotspots
Update: Wifi Hotspots can now be checked out for 10 days. They can also be placed on hold. ### The Metro Library Network (MLN), a collaboration between the Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha, and Marion Public libraries, will begin lending wifi hotspots to library card holders on April 17. Library card holders can check the hotspots out… View more
Get your hands dirty!
Creepy Charlie has popped up along with the (often more desired) tulips and daffodils. The garden centers are stocking up on soil and mulch and some eager beavers have already started their indoor seeds. There is still plenty of time to start a garden and reap its benefits. If you’re thinking of taking control of… View more
Colorful Community
Each September, the Cedar Rapids Public Library celebrates Outside the Lines, a national movement to reintroduce libraries and library service to the community. In 2016, we invited our community to participate in Outside the Lines by submitting their original artwork as part of the Cedar Rapids Public Library Colorful Community coloring book. Download the Color… View more
National Library Week
April 9 – 16, the Cedar Rapids Public Library joins libraries in schools, campuses, and communities nationwide in celebrating the many ways libraries are transforming their communities every day through the services and invaluable expertise they offer. April 9-15 is National Library Week, a time to highlight the changing role of libraries, librarians and library… View more
Behold the Unicorn!
The unicorn is the official national animal of Scotland and this Sunday the tiny country will celebrate this mythical creature on National Unicorn Day! While you may think this is an odd choice of national animal, if you delve into Scottish and Medieval folklore a little, you will discover that the unicorn is synonymous with… View more
A River by Marc Martin
Since the dawn of civilization humans have understood the importance of rivers. They are integral parts of our communities; the veins pumping life into our towns and cities. Marc Martin in his book, A River depicts a young girl looking out of her window at a river below. Her bedroom is adorned with beautiful and… View more
Master Gardeners at the Library
It is springtime and that means it is time to get your hands in the dirt and your mind on planting! Lucky for us the Linn County Master Gardeners will be visiting the Library in April to give us tips and tricks to make our gardens blossom. Linn County Master Gardeners at Ladd Library 3750… View more
Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is thrilled to celebrate its tenth season in 2017 with a wonderful line up of authors. The collaborative program of the Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha, and Marion Public Libraries will present Anne Perry, Kwame Alexander, and Debbie Macomber on three consecutive Friday nights in June at the Hotel… View more
Eve Rossi Thrillers by Stefanie Pintoff
I love character driven thrillers with a perfect sense of place. Tight plotting. Page turning. I read thrillers to transport myself. My love affair with (…the books of…) Harlan Coben, Lee Child, and David Baldacci is rooted in their characterizations of hero: Everyman against the world. Sinister sucks. These seasoned writers are tough to compete… View more
The CRPL Summer Dare Everywhere volunteers (Susy Jones, Sandy Steckler, Jeri Vincent, and Vicki Brubaker) are finalists for United Way’s Outstanding Group Volunteer Award. Summer Dare Everywhere Volunteers Last summer, the Cedar Rapids Public Library piloted a new summer reading outreach program, Summer Dare Everywhere, with the Cedar Rapids Metro YMCA. The program brought the library to youth… View more
Women’s History Month Music Spotlight
Ever since its expansion from Women’s History Week in the 1980’s March is known as Women’s History Month. During this time it’s appropriate to appreciate, recognize, and salute those ground breaking females that have blazed trails in front of all of us. As former President Carter said in 1980: “From the first settlers who came… View more
The Reality of Race
The Grace of Silence, by Michelle Norris Former NPR All Things Considered journalist Michelle Norris has a particularly elegant way of reporting. It is at once fluid, deep, articulate, enlightening and pensive. Her memoir is no different. The Grace of Silence is a book encompassing race in America and how it affects family ties, social… View more
Cedar Rapids Public Library named National Medal for Museum and Library Service Finalist
The National Medal for Museum and Library Service is the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries by the Institute of Museum and Library Services in recognition of exceptional service to the community and for making a difference in the lives of individuals, families, and communities. We are honored to share that Cedar Rapids… View more
New in Children’s – March 2017
Winner of the 2015 Newbery Medal for The Crossover, poet Kwame Alexander draws on rules of sports as the background for life lessons of hardship, perseverance, and focus. In The Playbook: 52 Rules to Aim, Shoot, and Score in This Game Called Life, he uses sports analogies (predominately basketball as you might imagine from the cover)… View more
Spring Break Gems
My kids were home this week so I had a legitimate reason to check out a whole stack of children’s books. Here are a couple that stood out… One Proud Penny, by Randy Siegel and Serge Bloch “Whatever you are, be a good one”. – Abraham Lincoln See a penny pick it up all day… View more
In the Company of Women by Grace Bonney
The only way for a woman, as for a man, to find herself, to know herself as a person, is by creative work of her own. There is no other way. ― Betty Friedan Each year on March 8th we gather to celebrate International Women’s Day. Through rallies, performances, networking events and more, we recognize… View more
Community Cultural Celebration and Expo March 18
All members of the community are invited to the first Community Cultural Celebration & Expo on Saturday, March 18, 2017, from 10 am-2 pm at the Downtown Library. Come to celebrate your own culture and enjoy learning about the many other cultures in our diverse community! The festivities will include: * Music, dance, performances &… View more
New in Children’s – February 2017
By this point, most know of the harrowing story of bravery of Nobel Prize-winning Malala Yousafzai. Taking the very real story of how a young girl in Pakistan was shot by the Taliban for fighting for young girls’ rights to an education and interpreting it for children is no easy feat but Raphaele Frier and… View more
Linn Area Reads 2017
The planning committee for the annual community-wide reading program known as Linn Area Reads has selected A Wrestling Life: The Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable by Dan Gable with Scott Schulte for the 2017 edition of the program. Linn Area Reads is a program of the Metro Library Network, which is made up of the… View more
So I Judged this Book by its Cover
Last month, I was the lucky recipient of a big, beautiful easel. For painting. For painting paintings! Having only produced a few dozen paintings over the course of my fifty plus years, I thought I’d try to actually learn how to do it. Enter Sam Piyasena and Beverly Philp’s Just Paint It! I’m an admittedly… View more
The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
I went through a reading slump in the second half of 2016. Blame it on the siren song of social media. Blame it on the election. I couldn’t sit down and finish a book to save my life. I found other things to occupy my time. I cooked a lot. I started learning Polish. (Check… View more
Play, Sing, and Read!
Join us for a new story time program called Play, Sing, and Read! Held at 10 am each Wednesday morning at the Downtown Library, we will have a 20 minute play and socialization time followed by interactive stories and songs. A simple art or sensory activity will be provided each week. This program is designed… View more
You are the sum of your parts
It’s official! It’s 2017! You’ve started on that vision board. You have your Fitbit ready to measure your every move. But have you considered managing your microbiology? More and more, the tiny, non-human make-up of your body has become increasingly interesting to scientists. Microbiology plays an integral role in your life and your body is… View more
Top Books of 2016
It’s always interesting to learn what books are the most popular each year in our library collection. This year we have it broken out into a few different categories. What was your favorite book in 2016? Top 5 Children’s Titles: Fancy Nancy : Splendiferous Christmas Pokémon Adventures Pokémon Black and White Babymouse Pete the Cat… View more
Happy Birthday to Us!
Happy birthday to the Cedar Rapids Public Library! Celebrate 120 years of the Cedar Rapids Public Library in 2017. The community is invited to a birthday celebration from 10 am to Noon on January 14 at the Downtown Library. Enjoy activities and party games for families, capture your library memories in our story booth, and… View more
Bookish Arts and Crafts: Vision Boards
Are you ready to engage your creativity and imagination in an artful undertaking? When was the last time you called the right side of your brain forward on purpose? We meet 5:30-7:30 pm on the first Thursday of the month at the Downtown Library for hands-on recreational arts and crafts projects with bookish themes for… View more
Noon Year’s Eve Party at the Library!
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is ready to ring in the New Year with the entire family on December 31! Join us for the party of the year culminating in our big balloon drop at Noon. Our Noon Year’s Eve Celebration begins at 10 am at the Downtown Library. Make your very own New Year’s… View more
Too cold to play outside? READ!
Where Did They Go? a spotting book by Emily Barnoff Emily Barnoff’s new “seek and find” book for children takes us on a world tour searching the pages for a tree sloth, a bison, a tapir, and other rare animals. Children will see – quite literally – how hard it is to spot these creatures…. View more
Children’s book list for the holiday
Winter weather is creeping in and children are reveling in freshly fallen snow. What better time to get the hot cocoa going and curl up with them and a great book? CRPL has you covered. Below is a list of great reads for elementary aged children from the past year. These books are a perfect… View more
Mni Wiconi-Water is Life
How do we wake up and relate to other cultures? I was culturally slapped in the face (and literally slapped in the face) at a Pow-Wow at the Lac du Flambeau reservation in northern Wisconsin in 1991 when I was 15. I had been up there that summer to work for the Department of Natural Resources… View more
Digital Magazines Available for Download
The Cedar Rapids Public Library offers a variety of popular and specialty magazines for download to your device using a service called Zinio. There is no cost to use Zinio–all you need is your library card and pin! Discover your favorite magazines on your digital device. Zinio offers magazines for all types of interests, including… View more
Food for Fines
The Metro Library Network is partnering to support HACAP Food Reservoir this November through Food for Fines! Pay off your library fines with non-perishable food items between October 31 and November 30. Receive $1 off your overdue fines for each item you donate. Donations in exchange for your fines can be taken at any of… View more
Home by Harlan Coben
Home is a desperate mix of loyalty, pain, family and friendship. But it’s loyalty that takes center stage in Harlan Coben’s latest New York Times bestselling mystery. Home stars Myron Bolitar and his lifelong friend, Windsor Horne Lockwood III (aka “Win”). When Myron gets a call for help from Win, the man who never asks for anything, he… View more
Spark Your Interest at the Library
The Cedar Rapids Public Library wants you to spark a new interest by checking out a new collection. Spark Kits are now available at the Downtown Library for checkout. Spark Kits are small circulating kits of crafts, activities, or projects. The first two kits available are “Adult Coloring Spark Kit” and “Learn to Crochet.” These… View more
Colorful Community Continues
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is embracing the popular adult coloring phenomenon and we need your help. We are compiling a local coloring book full of line drawings created by the people of our community that represents Cedar Rapids. We are asking you to submit your line drawing to us by October 4 to be… View more
Downtown Library Closed Through Monday, Ladd Library Open Extra Hours
The Downtown Cedar Rapids Public Library will reopen on Monday, October 3, at 9 am, and resume normal library operations. The Library closed on Saturday, September 23 due to flood concerns. Safety of our patrons and our community remained the priority during the flood crisis, and the Downtown Library, while in no immediate danger, was… View more
Flood Information and Updates
UPDATE Sept 28, 1:46 pm The Downtown Cedar Rapids Public Library will reopen on Monday, October 3, at 9 am, and resume normal library operations. The Library closed on Saturday, September 23 due to flood concerns. Safety of our patrons and our community remained the priority during the flood crisis, and the Downtown Library, while… View more
The Journey, by Francesca Sanna
Ref·u·gee Noun: refugee; plural noun: refugees; a person or persons who have been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. “Tens of thousands of refugees fled their homes”. According to the UN Refugee Agency there are 65.3 million people worldwide that have been forcibly displaced: fleeing from ethnic,… View more
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
I confess that most of the world apparently disagrees with my assessment of In a Dark, Dark Wood. It was an instant NYT bestseller, and just two months after it was published last summer, Reese Witherspoon’s production company bought the movie rights. Marketed heavily as a psychological thriller, again, I disagree. In a Dark, Dark… View more
Tell Us Your Story
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is looking for great stories and we want yours! Share your great library story with us by Sept 25 and be entered to win a $100 HyVee gift card. We want to know what the Library means to you: Why do you visit the Library? What services or resources do… View more
Townes Van Zandt: Be Here to Love Me
Be Here to Love Me is a new release biography DVD about the life and times of Townes Van Zandt. I’ve heard his name in passing for years: Emmy Lou Harris mentions him, Nancy Griffith wouldn’t have the song Tecumseh Valley (a personal favorite) without Van Zandt, and of course there would be no Pancho and… View more
New Young Adult Programs
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is partnering with Imagination Iowa, an initiative of NewBoCo, to provide a new series of programs called “Ctrl Alt Create” and “Ctrl Alt Connect” and “LaddWorks” at the Library. These programs, designed specifically for young adults, will use robotics, art, science, technology and so much more to spark imagination and… View more
Mother Goose on the Loose
Children are learning the basic skills necessary to read long before kindergarten. The Library’s early childhood program “Mother Goose on the Loose” teaches the basics through rhyme, repetition, song, and movement. Mother Goose on the Loose is a 30-minute nursery rhyme program for newborns to three-year-olds, followed by a 30-minute playtime. The program begins in… View more
City Atlas: Travel the World with 30 City Maps, written by Georgia Cherry, illustrated by Martin Haake
“I was surprised, as always, by how easy the act of leaving was, and how good it felt. The world was suddenly rich with possibility.” – Jack Kerouac Before there were Google maps and GPS, there were Atlases. I remember as a child scouring over villages and towns; examining how cities oozed into suburbs and suburbs… View more
Library is Central Public Hub for Business Meetings, Training and Online Access
No longer the stodgier sort of Carnegie-era library, where you might have dropped in to borrow a book or two, and perhaps looked up stock information in a book, the Cedar Rapids Public Library today is busy hub for business, civic and social meetings. By busy, we mean people are using Library spaces by the… View more
Summer Sci-Fi Film Series
The Cedar Rapids Public Library invites you to cool off from the warm August weather with the Second Annual Summer Sci-Fi Film Series.The free film series, hosted by Steven Marc Weiss, Professor of Theatre Arts at Coe College, will begin with a brief introduction to the films each night. This year the film series features… View more
Under the Big Black Sun
Sometimes I feel like my life is a research project that I started in my ‘tweens. It was at that time that I remember really paying attention to what was happening around me and in the summer of my sixth grade year a boy who was interested in my oldest sister started hanging around our… View more
Pied Piper Concerts: Brass
Join Orchestra Iowa’s talented chamber ensembles as they introduce preschool-aged children to the instruments of the orchestra! Focused on fun and learning, Pied Piper Concerts offer children the opportunity to enjoy an up-close and personal chamber concert absolutely FREE! Concerts will be held June 9 and 10 at 9:30 am, 10:15 am, and 11:00 am… View more
Get Your Summer Reading List from Local Experts at Book Boost June 9
Wondering what to read this summer? Hear local experts with The Gazette discuss which books should top your summer reading list during Book Boost on Thursday, June 9, at 6 pm at the Downtown Cedar Rapids Public Library. Join Alison Gowans, Erin Jordan, and Scott Dochterman as they explain which books they are reading this… View more
Summer Dare Kick Off Party at Ladd Library June 5
The Cedar Rapids Public Library invites you to kick off summer learning with the Summer Dare Kick Off Party at the Ladd Library on Sunday, June 5, from 1 pm to 4 pm. Join us for face painting, balloon animals, a bouncy castle, ice cream, music and fun with some special guests, and get registered… View more
Crossing the Sea: With Syrians on the Exodus to Europe
According to the most recent data by UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, almost 60 million people around the world have been forced from their home. Almost 20 million of those are refugees, of which nearly 5 million are from Syria where a civil war between Bashar al-Bassad’s government, Sunni rebel groups, ISIL and various… View more
School’s almost out for summer
Perhaps the kids are signed up for swim lessons, you’re road tripping to the Black Hills, or they’re pitching on the mound all summer. At any rate there will still be days when you need some great reads and ideas for things to keep their little hands occupied. CRPL has you covered! Below is a… View more
The Last Mile by David Baldacci
One of my favorite antiheroes, the improbable Amos Decker, is back. We met a few years ago in David Baldacci’s Memory Man, and I instantly fell in love with Amos’ exceptional brain. You see, he is gifted and cursed with hyperthymesia and synesthesia resulting from a helmet to helmet collision at his first professional football… View more
Fresh Music for Open Windows
It’s Friday, the weather is warm, time to load the car stereo with music and open the windows so everyone going by knows you’re not afraid of the weekend funk (dancing not smelling). I’ve three new music Cd’s available at the library that can help you fulfill those needs: I’ve got a soft spot for… View more
We Dare You! This Summer at the Cedar Rapids Public Library
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is daring YOU to connect with the community and keep learning all summer long. The 2016 Summer Dare is not your average summer reading program. It is an intergenerational summer learning program that challenges the entire community to read it, picture it, move it, celebrate it, explore it, imagine it,… View more
Ketzel, the Cat who composed, by Leslea Newman and illustrated by Amy June Bates
Moshe Cotel is a composer who loves to listen to the sounds of the city. He listened outside himself and he listened inside himself, just as his teacher had taught him when he was a boy. When he was done listening, he would turn all those wonderful sounds into beautiful music. One day, after he… View more
Essay Forth
Essay = noun: /ˈesā/ A short piece of writing on a particular subject. The question: Can a literary form that that caused so much anxiety in my high school years find redemption in my dotage? Oh, the exercise in misery that was the high school essay. Did students really enjoy writing them? Did teachers really… View more
Books to Share With Your Preschoolers
Awake Beautiful Child Words by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Illustrated by Gracia Lam What a wonderful ABC book! Awake Beautiful Child, written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, is a mesmerizing walk through a child’s day. On each page, a three-word “ABC” description tells the reader about what’s pictured. It’s the illustrations that captivated me. There’s a crisp,… View more
Thank you for everything, Mo!
If you have kids, teach kids, have seen kids pottering around, you will most likely be familiar with Mo Willem’s work. From “Knuffle Bunny” to “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus,” “That is not a Good Idea” to “Amanda and her Alligator,” this author is the bread and butter, the meat and potatoes, the… View more
I’m Traveling Alone by Samuel Bjork
Add Samuel Bjork to this list: Jo Nesbo, Henning Mankell, Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom, and Stieg Larsson. All of these Scandinavian authors write delicious thrillers, and Samuel Bjork’s American debut, I’m Traveling Alone, assures him a spot among the greats. If you’ve never read Nordic Noir – yes, that’s a thing – let me… View more
H is for Hawk, by Helen Macdonald
“I wanted to cut loose from the world, and I shared, too his desire to escape to the wild, a desire that can rip away all human softness and leave you stranded in a world of savage, courteous despair”.- Helen Macdonald on T.H. White’s need to train a goshawk. When her father passed away suddenly… View more
Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben
Fool Me Once is Harlan Coben’s ninth consecutive novel to reach #1 on the New York Times best seller list. Nine books in a row at #1. I mean, can you imagine that? Seriously. I almost got to brag once when I came in second in a middle school spelling bee. But I digress. In… View more
Prince: June 7, 1958-April 21, 2016
“All these non-singing, non-dancing, wish-I-had-me-some-clothes fools who tell me my albums suck. Why should I pay any attention to them?” -Prince I opened up the internet yesterday and gasped out loud. I understand that the last few months may have made celebrity death reactions a near cynical experience, I’m there with you on that level, but… View more
Get Cooking!
Spring is most definitely in the air! While the trees are blossoming and budding out, we’re prepping our veggie beds, cleaning off our grills and getting our yards ready for the season. I’m constantly looking for fresh ideas for new recipes that use simple, local, fresh ingredients and also taste amazing. Here are some cookbooks… View more
Nix that Nature deficit disorder!
The stats are in. Millennial children (those born after 2005) spend an average of 35 hours a week on media. That’s the equivalent to a French work week! Though there are positive aspects to TV- certain shows can teach your child information they may not otherwise be exposed to, there have, in recent years been… View more
Playtime with Poppy: Harold and the Purple Crayon
Playtime Poppy Children’s Theatre will visit the Whipple Auditorium at the Downtown Library for a vignette from Washington High School’s upcoming production of Harold and the Purple Crayon. Kids will learn a dance from the show and create a brilliant suncatcher. Bring your imagination and a friend or two!
“Furiously Happy: a funny book about horrible things,” by Jenny Lawson
Life is a struggle. Sometimes just getting out of bed can be hard. Trying to justify to yourself that you are good enough merely for waking and running errands, while it may be a stretch, is completely necessary sometimes. Jenny Lawson is mentally ill. Sometimes, she admits that she sets the bar unabashedly low that… View more
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Ruta Sepetys’ most recent work Salt to Sea is a very well written historic novel– accurate in its description of time and place with mostly fictional characters that are based on real people’s lives and experiences. It illustrates the evacuation of East Prussia in January of 1945, a miserable winter towards the end of WWII when… View more
Journey, Quest and Return, by Aaron Becker
Aaron Becker’s first wordless picture book, Journey came out in August 2013 and received a Caldecott honor in 2014. There’s a scene in the book near the beginning where the main character, a young girl seemingly unmoved and bored by her life takes a red crayon, draws a door on her wall and ends up… View more
Creative Gardening Series: Planting for Pollinators!
Join the Linn County Master Gardeners and ISU Extension and Outreach as we present the 2016 Creative Gardening Series. This series meets three consecutive Thursday evenings at 6:30 pm in Whipple Auditorium at the Downtown Library and is free to all. April 7: What’s the Buzz? What’s Happening with Pollinators? Guest speaker is Dr. Donald… View more
Root to Stalk Cooking, by Tara Duggan
I remember once going to an Asian Farmer’s market when I lived in Sacramento excitedly and frantically throwing exotic looking fruits and vegetables into my basket. I had no idea what most of them were or how to prepare them and while I did make a few recipes, most of my market booty ended up… View more
Margo Price-Midwest Farmer’s Daughter
On March 25th this week Third Man Records, the labeled owned by Jack White, released Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, the debut album from Margo Price. It’s getting a lot of buzz this week among critics and Nashville music hawks, and for good reason. Margo Price is originally from Aledo, Illinois; for us in Cedar Rapids that… View more
When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi
“That you are here—that life exists, and identity; That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.” ― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass There are humans who conquer literature and humans who conquer science, but it is a rare human who can successfully master both. Paul Kalanithi is one such human. In… View more
Dowager Countess Approved
The sixth and final season of award-winning costume drama, Downton Abbey, has come and gone. For those of us following the adventures of the Crawley family, Sunday nights have become a bit of a lonely affair. Cast adrift and clutching our teacups, we must now sit back and wait for writer Julian Fellowes to pen… View more
The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth and Harlem’s Greatest Bookstore, by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
“Books will help him clear the weeds and plant the seeds so he’ll succeed” – Lewis Henri Michaux Lewis Henri Michaux opened up The National Memorial African Bookstore in 1932 and it became an integral hub in Harlem for African Americans, drawing prominent figures such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Muhammed Ali, Eartha Kitt… View more
Youth Graphic Novel Round-Up
A growing trend in readership and publishing comes in the form of the graphic novel. Perhaps a connection with the film industries penchant for comic book superheros, readers are reaching out for bright colors, bold pictures, and quick interchanges of graphic novels. One should not assume that though the interactions between the characters are brief… View more
Timbaland: Emperor of Sound
With the recent passing of the producer for The Beatles, George Martin, there was a wave of Internet and radio stories describing the sound that Martin had crafted for The Beatles. As a consumer of music with an untrained ear it is irrelevant to wonder who creates what sound for what artist. That is, unless,… View more
Great Spring Break Reads
It’s Spring Break! Whether you’re going to Grandma’s and need some books for bedtime, heading to Florida and need an alternative to puzzles, dolls and TV on the road, having a stay-cation or you’re anywhere in between, here are some great kids reads to see you through… The Adventures of Beekle the Unimaginary Friend- Dan… View more
Will Robie Series by David Baldacci
David Baldacci is the king of government conspiracy thrillers. From Absolute Power to The Camel Club to his latest series about government assassin Will Robie, Baldacci has always known how to keep his fans in suspense. The first Will Robie book, published in 2012, was The Innocent. It gave us a glimpse into this new… View more
Another News Post
Almarian blanco calmindon caves of androth demons dor-cúarthol drúedain of beleriand durin’s day (day) dírnaith dúnedain eldest galadriel hasufel haven of the swans house of hador hrívë irmo kin-strife lord of the rings mungo baggins máhanaxar númenórean sindarin ringlord rochirrim somath spies of the valar tuilérë valaraukar valinor woodmen. Amon rûdh arvedui last-king awakening of… View more
Latest News Post
Almarian blanco calmindon caves of androth demons dor-cúarthol drúedain of beleriand durin’s day (day) dírnaith dúnedain eldest galadriel hasufel haven of the swans house of hador hrívë irmo kin-strife lord of the rings mungo baggins máhanaxar númenórean sindarin ringlord rochirrim somath spies of the valar tuilérë valaraukar valinor woodmen. Amon rûdh arvedui last-king awakening of… View more
The Little Gardener, By Emily Hughes
Though snowflakes are still sporadically gracing our windshields as I look down at my feet I see them; little signs of a big change in the season. Tiny succulents are poking through my mulch as a precursor of the next big thing-Spring! Looking up the squirrels are more playful as they carefully scamper after one… View more
In Other Words, by Jhumpa Lahiri
After reading and being deeply engrossed in The Namesake and Pulitzer Prize winning novel Interpreter of Maladies, I was eager to learn more about the author in her new autobiography, In Other Words. Lahiri’s fiction is fluid, honest and highly insightful, so I was intrigued to read her first work of non-fiction. The themes in… View more
The Forest Feast
I highly recommend Erin Gleeson’s The Forest Feast, a collection of easy Vegetarian recipes. First of all, I like the background story: Erin Gleeson grew up on an orchard in Sonoma County, CA but moved to New York City as a young adult with an art major, initially drawn to food photography via a volunteering job at the… View more
Navel Gazing: True Tales of Bodies Mostly Mine (But Also My Mom’s Which I Know Sounds Weird)
“Once I commit to something, I commit-at least until I quit, which can happen at any time” –Michael Ian Black I know Michael Ian Black best from his time as a cultural commentator on the long running ‘I love the —‘series on VH1; his dry, crass observations held up a brief relatable mirror into the… View more
My Pen, by Christopher Myers
“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” ― Albert Einstein In a world of Common Core, filling in the correct bubbles and being data-driven in schools, there is a sparkling shimmer of magic and solace in a glorious piece of blank paper and a pen. The beginning of this completely black… View more
Orchestra Iowa Presents Pied Piper Concerts at the Cedar Rapids Public Library
The sounds of woodwind instruments will fill the Whipple Auditorium at the downtown Cedar Rapids Public Library the first week of March. The talented woodwind musicians from Orchestra Iowa will present a special chamber concert just for children and families on Thursday, March 3, and Friday, March 4. “Chamber music concerts like this are the… View more
A Man Called Ove
A Man Called Ove is the first novel by Swedish blogger and author Fredrik Backman, and what a great uplifting read it is! Ove is a 59-year old grumpy, lonely man who thrives on routine and principles, and who gets extremely bent out of shape when he encounters people who don’t. Needless to say, he… View more
Mr. Squirrel and the Moon- By Sebastian Meschenmoser
A father and son sit together and enjoy a little respite in the afternoon sun when their cart loses a wheel of cheese which is sent careening down the hill, up a tree and onto a branch where it rests until squirrel wakes to find it. Convinced the wheel of cheese is the moon, and… View more
The Princess and The Pony, by Kate Beaton
Princess Pinecone is not your average Princess. With dreams of being a warrior, she has been disappointed to find that on previous birthdays, while waiting for a horse that is strong and fit for battle, her parents have instead bestowed countless cozy sweaters. The latest one displaying the words “special girl” across her chest… View more
Movies: Oldies but Goodies
By the time February arrives in Iowa, cabin fever runs amuck. This week’s bitter cold temperatures prompted the following recommendations from some of the Cedar Rapids Public Library staff. Since you’ll probably stay inside this week, some of us think you should watch a DVD or Blu-ray that’s truly worth your time. Sarah’s pick is… View more
Celebrate Valentine’s Day at the Library!
Visit either location of the Cedar Rapids Public Library on Saturday, February 13 to take part in our Valentine’s Day celebrations. The Downtown Library will be home to a life-sized Candyland experience from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm. Queen Frostine, Gramma Nutt, and Plumpy Princess Lolly will greet you as you travel through the Peppermint… View more
Linn Area Reads 2016: The Book Thief
The planning committee for the annual community-wide reading program known as Linn Area Reads has selected The Book Thief by author Markus Zusak for the 2016 edition of the program. Linn Area Reads is a program of the Metro Library Network, which is made up of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries. All… View more
Cedar Rapids Public Library Announces Launchpads
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is excited to announce the release of a new tablet designed to meet the needs of its youngest customers: Launchpads. Launchpads are made possible by the Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation with a grant from ITC Holdings Corp. Launchpads, a kid-friendly tablet designed for libraries to lend, come preloaded with… View more
Mystery Monday: Agatha Christie
Today I have visions of tea, scones and arsenic dancing in my head. While scouring the stacks at the Cedar Rapids Public Library, I discovered that we have an incredible selection of Agatha Christie novels. For a mystery lover, this is a treasure indeed. Dame Agatha Christie, the doyenne of the proper English murder mystery,… View more
The Art of Freedom: Teaching the Humanities to the Poor
The world we live in requires solutions. This is something one comes to realize as an adult; simply talking about issues or social problems are nary an answer to tangible change. How do we recognize that we are capable as humans of directing the energy that flows through society, how do we find importance in… View more
SENG* Guided Discussion Group for Parents Starts Feb 1 at the Downtown Cedar Rapids Public Library
The SENG & Guided Discussion Group for Parents has been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience. *** Parenting is a difficult yet highly important job. Understanding our children is fundamental to supporting them and parenting effectively. There can be unique challenges and nuances involved in parenting gifted children. Their parents often express feeling isolated and… View more
MLK Day Kick-Off and Public Employment Job Fair
Join the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission and the Cedar Rapids Public Library as we kick off the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday an MLK Day Kick-Off and Public Employment Job Fair. Visit the Downtown Library on Sunday, January 17, starting at 2pm to view a special screening of the 2015 movie “Selma”…. View more
10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works–A True Story by Dan Harris
Dan Harris, current co-anchor of ABC News’ “Nightline” and co-anchor of the weekend edition of “Good Morning America,” has worked with ABC News since 2000 and has become a regular fixture on the channel’s various news programs. Following a long stint covering war in Baghdad in 2003, he returned stateside suffering symptoms he did not… View more
The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagercrantz
Lisbeth Salander, the brilliant and fierce heroine of the Millennium Series, recently returned to international bestseller lists in The Girl in the Spider’s Web. Salander fans know that Stieg Larsson, the author of the original Millennium Trilogy – The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked… View more
Make the Cedar Rapids Public Library Your New Year’s Resolution
The Cedar Rapids Public Library wants you to make us your New Year’s Resolution for 2016! This is one resolution you can actually keep. Stop by either the Downtown or Ladd Library during the month of January and pick up library punch card. Each card has six tasks; one for each of the first six… View more
Cleopatra: A Life
I picture myself at age eight, in a stiff wooden church pew, the family in a row starting with my slumped over father at the aisle, and ending with myself daydreaming. I see a heaven up in the clouds with blue sky and gold everywhere and there’s the gates that look a lot like a… View more
The Immortal Nicholas
The Immortal Nicholas is a novel by television host and political commentator Glenn Beck. It is a fable that aims at retelling the Santa Claus story in a way that guides people away from the commercial Kris Kringle and toward the spirituality and altruism of the man, Saint Nicholas. The main character is a simple… View more
A Book Journey
The New York Public Library recently followed a copy of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” through their library system, recording in detail the odyssey it took from when a patron put it on hold to when it was checked out. We thought this was a really wonderful idea, and while our library system is exponentially smaller than… View more
Pink Floyd Studio Albums Available on Freegal January 1
Pink Floyd released the ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ LP in March of 1973. It was on the Billboard charts for fourteen consecutive years after that date. The LP holds the record as the longest time spent on the charts. According to Billboard, the album still sells an estimated 8-9,000 copies a week and it… View more
Children’s Adventures in Coding at the Cedar Rapids Public Library
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is thrilled to offer a new four-week program designed to introduce kids ages 5-7 years of age and their adults to early coding skills based on the book Hello Ruby. Hello Ruby is a book designed to be a whimsical way to learn about technology, computing and coding. The four-week… View more
The Haunted Season by G. M. Malliet
One of the mystery series that I have looked forward to reading is the Max Tudor Mystery series by G.M.Malliet. The Haunted Season is the fifth book in the Max Tudor Mystery series. It is always interesting to see how she ties in seemingly unrelated story threads at the end. Max Tudor is a handsome… View more
Timmy Failure: Greatness Inside!
My 82-year-old father picked up one of the three books on my living room table and chuckled, “Timmy Failure!” I explained I had chosen to read this book series for middle readers for my Children’s Resources class at the University of Iowa. While the rest of us chatted, he continued to read, and to chuckle… View more
The One-Year Challenge
New Year’s Eve is a few weeks away and the pressure is on to come up with a resolution that will dazzle. In anticipation of this, I am reading books written by people who have embarked on a one-year challenge and recorded their experience. As consistency is not my strong suit – I am neither… View more
The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book
Growing up in Germany, I was unfamiliar with pie until I came to the U.S. Germany embraces sweets and desserts, boasts bakeries and confectionary shops, is home to many different cakes and cookies, tarts and tortes. But PIE is not to be found. Upon my move across the Atlantic I was quickly intrigued by the… View more
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl
Remember the nineties? I do, I graduated from high school in 1993, a year that was marked by a stiff rise in what had recently been labeled ‘grunge’ music. Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ was released in 1991 and had taken over MTV along with Sonic Youth, Stone Temple Pilots, and Pearl Jam. Movies like ‘Singles’ the… View more
Setting the Table: The Tranforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer
Last month the reference librarians at the Library were assigned to read Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer. Since I sit in on the meetings of this group, I also read it. My expectations were similar to other books on customer service: good ideas, but pretty dry reading…. View more
New Books to Read Aloud
There’s nothing like reading aloud as a family on a long winter night, and some of our favorite children’s book authors have new books to take the chill right out of the brisk Iowa air. Here are a few of my favorite new children’s books that are suitable for the whole family…. View more
Superfluous Women by Carola Dunn
Daisy Dalrymple is an independent woman who earns her living as a freelance writer. Times are hard in the 1920s. Over 700,000 young men have been killed in the war with many others wounded in body and mind. As she takes on her freelance writing assignments around the country, she stumbles upon murder. This leads… View more
Reckless: My Life as a Pretender
I always wanted to be a rocker chick. I can still see the ones I knew in my youth, the black bottomed tennis shoes, feathered hair, and jean jackets loaded with patches from various shows. Joan Jett seemed like she had the world figured out, and Lita Ford looked like she could tear your head… View more
Early Childhood Literacy at the Library
Learning to read or write doesn’t start with the first day of school. Developing language and literacy skills starts at birth. Parents are a child’s first teacher and those early years are instrumental in how a child will perform later in life. The Cedar Rapids Public Library offers a variety of resources for parents and… View more
When in Doubt, Travel
I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list. ~ Susan Sontag As we journey into the month of November, I acknowledge that this is not prime travel season. But, if your goal is to make memories all over the world, why not start thinking about your next trip? The Cedar Rapids Public Library has… View more
Make Me: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child
Dear Reacher, I’m sure I’ve told you before, but, dang it Reacher, you’re adorable. Some people think that men who are 6’5” tall and built like refrigerators don’t want to be called adorable (or cute, as I often remark during college football games), but I mean it most sincerely. And let’s face it – I’m… View more
Once Upon a Midnight Dreary
The question we get asked most often the week before Halloween is, “Do you have any scary movies?” Oh yes, my friend, we most certainly do. We have your standard scary movie fare – the Friday the 13th series, the Halloween movies, the Scream tetralogy. All excellent choices. But we’ve dug a little deeper into… View more
Vote November 3
On Tuesday, November 3, 2015, voters will be asked to vote on a special 27 cent levy to provide funding for the Cedar Rapids Public Library. The Library Board of Trustees determined that the library needed to find a sustainable source of funding to maintain service at current levels. While the demand for library services… View more
Erica Jong: Fear of Dying – A Review
Yes, yes, I’m a big boring fan of feminist literature. There’s a part of me that could have been a gender studies major in college, but I wasn’t, I was an English major who got way into Virginia Woolf. It surprised me too. On the canon of what to read when it comes to women’s… View more
Mystery Monday: The Gentle Art of Murder by Jeanne M. Dams
I have always loved mysteries, especially series mysteries. You can get to know and like a character even if they sometimes frustrate you with their obtuseness or naiveté. Such is not the case with Dorothy Martin in The Gentle Art of Murder by Jeanne M. Dams. Dorothy is an older woman, a retired teacher married… View more
Healthy Child Screening Day at the Ladd Library
Children aged 6 months to 6 years can receive FREE hearing, vision, dental and developmental health screenings on Tuesday, October 27, from 10 am to 2 pm. There will also be community resources available to provide information about health, insurance and nutrition programs. All families are invited to join us.
Write On!
It is with the utmost excitement that I announce, “NaNoWriMo is upon us!” What is NaNoWriMo, you ask? It is only the Mount Everest of writing experiences. The Ironman of novel construction. The Iditarod for aspiring authors. If you hope to one day be a writer, it is something you must attempt at least once… View more
Americanah by Chimanda Ngozi Adichie
Born and raised on a different continent, I am always interested in reading about immigration stories , specifically what compelled them to come this far, did their preconceived notions hold true to reality and did “their” American dream become fulfilled. Americanah was a wonderful surprise as it is so much more than merely a tale… View more
Best Boy by Eli Gottlieb
Enter the world of Todd Aaron, longtime resident of Payton Living Center, autistic fifty-something hero and heartbreaker, narrator of Best Boy by Eli Gottlieb. To say that reading Best Boy is to enter Todd’s world is gross understatement. Todd has much to say. He will tell you about his lovely mother, long gone now, who… View more
Becoming Beekman
Many of my favorite books are stories of transformation. They are about people who begin a journey one way and emerge at the end completely altered. Through tests and trials, hardships and happy coincidences, they discover their true selves and a new way of living. The story of the Beekman Boys is just such a… View more
Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum
There’s a narrative in history and in literature that relinquishes the soul of a bored woman. The woman who has settled into marriage, kids, and finds herself uninteresting. When my husband was in the Army and deployed to Iraq it was in the faces of the young women left behind. For a woman in her… View more
Mystery Mondays: Kate White
You may know Kate White as the wildly successful editor-and-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine. For fourteen years she sat at the helm of this behemoth of a women’s magazine. In 2012, at the top of her game, White passed the torch having increased monthly circulation by 700,000 readers and reached a pinnacle of over three million… View more
Ode to the Scholastic Book Club
“Good morning, class. Your Scholastic book order has arrived.” Were there ever words more magical than these? If you were a young scholar, post-1948, chances are you received a Scholastic order form at school each month. You’d take it home and mark the fifty books you most wanted to purchase. From there, your parents made… View more
Mystery Mondays: Henning Mankell
Today we mark the passing of Swedish crime novelist Henning Mankell, who succumbed to lung cancer at the age of 67. Mankell is best known as the creator of the Kurt Wallander series set in the tiny hamlet of Ystad. Wallander is an intelligent but brooding detective who makes for a gritty hero. Alcoholic, overweight,… View more
C’mon, Get Happy!
How important is happiness to the average human being? How much of a difference does it make, really? Is it overrated or, as Aristotle once said, is happiness “the meaning and purpose of life?” Studies show that happy people earn more money, are less likely to get sick, and are more successful in relationships than… View more
It was a dark and stormy night…
The thrills and chills of the Halloween season are upon us and they aren’t only for the little ones. This is the time of year that a book-lover pulls out a spooky novel, crawls under the covers and white-knuckles it until the clock strikes midnight. (Are those footsteps you hear out in the hall? They… View more
John Adams, the Complete Mini-Series, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, producers
When HBO’s mini-series John Adams dominated Hollywood’s award season several years ago, I put the show on my to-watch list and forgot about it. I’m reminded of my initial interest in it nearly every time I work – patrons regularly borrow the DVDs – I see them coming and going like New York Times Bestsellers…. View more
Audiobooks Straight to Your Device
Road trips can be great fun if the driver is armed with all the right tools: good snacks, good company, and a good audiobook! The Cedar Rapids Public Library has audiobooks on CD for checkout in our libraries, as well as downloadable audiobooks that can loaded onto your phone or other device anytime. OneClick Digital… View more
Some Other Town by Elizabeth Collison
If you are an Iowan and love literature, chances are you experience a thrill when you come across a book written by a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. While its alumni are numerous and diverse, I would argue that over the years the Workshop has developed a distinctive brand. That of meticulously-crafted literature and… View more
Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss
Did you know that each year food companies use 5 billion pounds of salt, or that scientists in the food industry have used brain scans to determine that our brains respond to sugar in much the same way they respond to cocaine, or that one in every three adults and one in five children are… View more
Free Garden Programs at Ladd Library
The Cedar Rapids Public Library (CRPL) will host free garden classes presented by the Linn County Master Gardeners (LCMG) at the Ladd Library beginning August 31. New Perennials for 2015 August 31, 6:30 pm, presented by Deb Walser, LCMG Every year the garden catalogs are full of NEW amazing perennials. How do we select the… View more
Take the Stage
The Cedar Rapids Public Library loves partnering with local experts to educate our community on everything from gardening to music! We are very excited to partner with local theatre group RHCR and their talented cast of “Disney’s Cinderella Kids” on a new series of theatre programs called Take the Stage! This Saturday, parents of children… View more
Gummy Bears Should Not Be Organic (and other opinions I can’t back up with facts) by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor.
I came upon this book while roving through the new adult non-fiction on the second floor and picked it up because of the giant gummy teddy on the front (it was almost break time and I was looking forward to a sugar fix and this seemed to at least temporarily appease my cravings). I immediately… View more
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
If you are on the lookout for a quick and entertaining, yet well-written summer read, I’ve found one for you in The Rosie Project. The Rosie Project is the debut novel of Australian author-cum-IT consultant, Graeme Simsion. It focuses on routine-laden genetics professor, Don Tillman, who has decided he is ready for marriage. He hopes… View more
Library Clubs Offer Various Opportunities to Participate
Whether you are learning the nuances of chess, love to get deep into a game of Scrabble, or are looking for fellow readers, the Cedar Rapids Public Library has a club for you! The Library offers a variety of clubs and each one is open to anyone who would like to participate. Chess Club: Meets each… View more
Unspeakable and Other Subjects of Discussion by Meghan Daum
Do you know who Meghan Daum is? If you do, you are one step ahead of me. She wrote a previous collection of essays titled ‘My Misspent Youth’ and if I had seen that title I guarantee I would have pulled it off the shelf based on curiosity alone. As it is, the title I… View more
Summer Learning at the Cedar Rapids Public Library Can Help Prevent Summer Slide
Studies show that over the summer months, when students are not in school, they can lose as much as two months’ worth of grade level equivalency. A study by the National Summer Learning Association confirms that teachers spend a significant amount of time re-teaching material due to summer learning loss. The Cedar Rapids Public Library… View more
Daredevil created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett for Marvel
Yes. Daredevil is on Netflix. And it’s a great show. But Daredevil, like so many other great characters, was in print before he was on film. The graphic novels, comic books, and other incarnations, has been around for over 50 years. The thing is, the character, created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett for Marvel,… View more
Piper Kerman
Piper Kerman will finish the Out Loud! Author Series on Friday, June 26, at 7 p.m. t the Hotel at Kirkwood Center. Kerman is the author of the best-selling memoir Orange is the New Black, which was adapted into a critically-acclaimed TV series of the same name. The memoir chronicles what the author calls her… View more
Rainbow Rowell
Rainbow Rowell will continue the Out Loud! Author Series on Friday, June 19, at 7 p.m. at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center. Rowell is the New York Times bestselling author of Fangirl, Eleanor & Park, and Attachments. Her latest book, Landline, received the Goodreads Choice Award for best fiction in 2014. Her work spans the… View more
Maureen Corrigan
Maureen Corrigan will open this year’s Out Loud! Author Series on Friday, June 12 at 7 p.m. at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center. Corrigan is one of America’s most trusted and loved book critics. For more than 20 years, Corrigan has been the book critic for NPR’s Fresh Air. She is also a columnist for… View more
We Dare You! This Summer at the Cedar Rapids Public Library
The Cedar Rapids Public Library (CRPL) is daring YOU to take summer reading to a whole new level in 2015! The CRPL Summer Dare is not your average summer reading program. It is a newly designed twist on conventional summer reading programs that challenges the entire community to read it, picture it, celebrate it, move… View more
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
We Were Liars is one of those books people really love or really hate. Written by National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart, the book tells the story of the beautiful and rich Sinclair family. Each summer, they go to their private island where they take boat trips and buy fudge. Everything is… View more
Movies, Movies, Movies!
Here are just a few of the best movies released on DVD and Blu-ray this month that the Metro Library Network has purchased. Remember to check the Media Boxes at the Ladd and Downtown libraries first for hot new releases! Still Alice Julianne Moore gives a mesmerizing performance as Alice Howland, a linguistics professor diagnosed… View more
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
All the Light We Cannot See is one of only a handful of books I’ve read that I didn’t want to end. I loved this book. Anthony Doerr sees the world as a scientist, but feels it as a poet. He knows about everything—radios, diamonds, mollusks, birds, flowers, locks, guns—but he also writes a line… View more
Notable Children’s Books
The Robin Makes a Laughing Sound: a birder’s journal by Sallie Wolf Sallie Wolf has written a sweet little children’s book that will help your kids (and you!) identify birds and their unique behaviors. Line drawings and water colors share the page with short poems and other insights. This non-fiction treat is ideal for a… View more
Rent music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson
On this day in 1996, Rent opened at the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway. On the final night of dress rehearsal, one day before the show opened, Jonathon Larson, Rent’s composer and librettist, died. He had worked on Rent for seven years. There are just not enough adjectives to describe the gut-wrenching musical performances that played… View more
The Death of Caesar by Barry Strauss
I love to work in the non-fiction section of the library. Wait, let me widen that statement, I love to work in the library, but the non-fiction area calls a siren song to me. Recently, while actively roving the floor, I spied a new book titled The Death of Caesar by Barry Strauss. I did… View more
The Nesting Place: it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful by Myquillyn Smith
Need help reclaiming your home this spring? The Nesting Place is a slightly different take on ‘the decorating book’, in that the focus is on creating personalized spaces using meaningful objects, rather than following a color and space formula to achieve “style”. Myquillin Smith, author of the popular Nesting Place blog, shares her refreshing perspective… View more
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
“Attachments” is lovely. It takes place at newspaper towards the end of 1999 with the Y2K “crisis” in full swing. Beth is funny, engaging, writes for the entertainment section, and has been dating a local rock star for nine years. Her best friend Jennifer is delightful, witty, works as a copy editor, and has a… View more
Marlene, Marlene, Queen of Mean by Jane Lynch
What? A children’s book by Jane Lynch? Yes! Jane Lynch, the scene stealing, Emmy and Golden Globe winning actress who plays bully Sue Sylvester on TV’s Glee, has written a children’s book about a bully. Marlene – playground tyrant and queen of mean – struts and swaggers all over town until a child finally stands… View more
Cedar Rapids Public Library wins AIA/ALA Library Building Award
The Cedar Rapids Public Library, designed by OPN Architects, has been named one of six recipients of the 2015 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards. Biennually, representatives from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the American Library Association (ALA) gather to encourage and recognize excellence in the architectural design of libraries. The Cedar Rapids Public Library,… View more
Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian
The fifth and final book in the Percy Jackson series was, as you might imagine, an adventure of mythical proportions. It begins with Percy and Co. waging yet another battle against Luke/Kronos, one that ends in a stalemate sending Percy into the depths of the ocean. Being the son of Poseidon and all, this is… View more
YOU Out Loud!
Submit your video and tell us why YOU should be the one to introduce one of our Out Loud! Authors this summer: Maureen Corrigan, Rainbow Rowell, or Piper Kerman. The rules are simple. You must be a valid library card holder in the Metro Library Network (consisting of Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha, and Marion Public Libraries). Your… View more
Out Loud! Author Series to Feature Corrigan, Rowell, and Kerman in 2015
Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is thrilled to present three outstanding authors in 2015. The collaborative program of the Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha, and Marion Public Libraries will present Maureen Corrigan, Rainbow Rowell, and Piper Kerman in free events at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center. Maureen Corrigan will open this year’s series on… View more
The Mickey Bolitar Series by Harlan Coben
The Mickey Bolitar detective series for Young Adults is a great set of page-turners by New York Times Bestselling author Harlan Coben. The series, Shelter, Seconds Away and Found, is character and plot driven – strong spinoffs of Coben’s wildly successful Myron Bolitar series. Each of the first two books stands alone, while providing great… View more
The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak
Simply the best read aloud book to come out in ten years, The Book With No Pictures is a must read for anyone with children. Written by one of the great comedic writers working today, B.J. Novak (The Office) turns reading to your kids into an event. The Book With No Pictures lives up to… View more
Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
“Hollow City” picks up where “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” left off with Jacob, now a part of the 1940s world of Peculiar Children and discovering his own peculiarity. Their time loop however has been discovered and attacked by the dreaded Hollows and Wights, neither of which should be physically capable of entering the… View more
Readaloudathon
On the first Wednesday of March every year, World Read Aloud Day calls global attention to the importance of reading aloud and sharing stories. The Cedar Rapids Public Library celebrates this each year with a Readaloudathon on March 4 at the downtown library. Readers will begin reading stories out loud at 9 am, when the… View more
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Despite being a relative newcomer to the magical world of fantasy, Ransom Riggs makes a darn good introduction. The first in the “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” series begins with Jacob Portman, a rather uninterested and uncommitted average teenager in Florida who is, well, bored. He’s bored of his life as it is and… View more
10 From 26: The ABC Family Reading Program
The cold weather means a lot more time for indoor activities! The Library wants to help you read and play together with “10 From 26: The ABC Family Reading Program.” This inter-generational reading program is designed to get you and your little one’s reading together! Visit the Library and check out a bag of 10 family-friendly… View more
STEM Festival February 24
The downtown Cedar Rapid Public Library will be buzzing on Tuesday for the STEM Fair from 4 – 8 pm. Over 40 exhibitors and community presenters will be on hand demonstrating STEM technology and careers. Representatives from Rockwell Collins, Iowa BIG Academy, the City of Cedar Rapids, and so many more organizations will be on… View more
Linn Area Reads Announces 2015 Title: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
The planning committee for the annual community reading program known as Linn Area Reads has selected One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by author Ken Kesey for the 2015 edition of the program. Linn Area Reads is a program of the Metro Library Network, which is made up of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha… View more
The Fire Chronicle by John Stephens
The sequel to The Emerald Atlas picks up nine months later with Kate, Michael, and Emma back in their rather disagreeable Baltimore orphanage where Dr. Pym leaves them after mysteriously leaving on Christmas Eve. When monsters interrupt the uppity orphanage director’s party, the trio make their hasty exit through time and space. Or rather, Michael… View more
ALA Announces 2015 Youth Media Award Winners
Each year, the American Library Association (ALA) announces the winners of the most prestigious youth book, video and audio book awards during its annual mid-winter conference. The winners for 2015 were announced today. Look for these and past award winners at the Cedar Rapids Public Library. A list of all the 2015 award winners follows:… View more
February is Teen Fitness Month
The Cedar Rapids Public Library will celebrate Teen Fitness Month in February with free and fun exercise programs. Throughout the month, teens will be able to participate in any of the three sessions: Boot Camp Tai Chi Kick Boxing Each class is taught by a trained professional. Registration is required and a waiver must be… View more
Free + Legal = Freegal
The Cedar Rapids Public Library is excited to share Freegal® with our library card holders. Freegal is a free music service from the library. All you need is your library card number and PIN and you can access to nearly 8 million songs, including Sony Music’s catalog of legendary artists, and over 15,000 music videos…. View more
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
Let me start by saying this is one of those books that I thought I should read. It had been on my goodread’s “want to read” list because everyone I knew loved it, but the subject matter – family drama – isn’t my usual fare. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves is a novel about… View more
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
It seems you can’t turn a corner without running into a post-apocalyptic teen dystopia but I read “The Maze Runner” nonetheless and really did enjoy the story. It features a young teen boy, Thomas, who awakes inside a rising elevator. When it opens, he discovers he is trapped in a new and unfamiliar world surrounded… View more
The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens
Kate, Michael, and Emma are sibling who have been tossed from orphanage to orphanage, something found terribly wrong with them at each one. Kate, the oldest, is left with the task of trying to mother her siblings; Michael, studious and obsessed with dwarves; and Emma, the youngest and a fighter. Eventually the three are shipped… View more
Most Popular Books of 2014
This is the time of year when top ten lists are all over the news and we have one of our very own to share. We’ve done the research and here are the top ten books checked out from the Cedar Rapids Public Library in 2014. Sycamore Row by John Grisham Gone Girl by Gillian… View more