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 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 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. 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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
