Staff Picks of 2020
See what the Cedar Rapids Public Library staff was reading and watching in 2020.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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