News & Updates

Nov. 7, 2024 – November is NaNoWriMo, aka National Novel Writing Month. An idea that began in 1999, NaNoWriMo participants aim to write the 50,000 words for a first draft of a novel in just 30 days. 

Oct. 28, 2024 – Horror abounds as Halloween approaches, and the library has plenty of books to send tingles down your spine.

Oct. 23, 2024 – The Cedar Rapids Public Library is made possible by our incredible staff. And we are staffed by book lovers. To celebrate the people who keep our library running, we're highlighting different staff members and books they love. 

Oct. 21, 2024 – The lights are low at Sensory Story Time, and Programming Librarian Renee Greenlee speaks in a quiet voice as she reads books and leads the small group of children and caregivers who gather at the Downtown Library each Thursday in songs and activities.

Oct. 17, 2024 – Spooky season is upon us, so here is a collection of creepy YA thrillers just in time for Halloween. In these novels, sometimes the monsters are ghosts and ghouls ... and sometimes they're the people living next door.

Oct. 14, 2024 – When Programming Specialist Erin Campbell first started visiting residents at The Gardens of Cedar Rapids, a senior living community on Cedar Rapids’ southwest side, one conversation in particular stuck with her.

Oct. 11, 2024 – The Cedar Rapids Public Library will host an Ask-A-Lawyer event Oct. 24-25, in partnership with the Linn County Bar Association, the State Library of Iowa, and the University of Iowa’s Law Library. 

Oct. 7, 2024 – The Cedar Rapids Public Library invites community members to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new Westside Library on Friday, Oct. 18, at 10 am.

Oct. 7, 2024 – The Cedar Rapids Public Library invites local artists to apply for the library’s Artist-in-Residency Program.  

Oct. 7, 2024 – September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic American Heritage Month, and Cedar Rapids Public Library Materials librarian Kim Martens-Tyo selected 20 children's books to celebrate.

Oct. 3, 2024 – On Oct. 1, the National Book Award announced 25 finalists in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people's literature. The winners will be announced Nov. 20.

Sept. 20, 2024 – Banned Books Week is September 22-28, 2024. Established in 1982, Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community in shared support of the freedom to read.

Sept. 16, 2024 – National Hispanic American Heritage Month is September 15 to October 15. Started in 1969 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon B. Johnson, it expended to the 30-day Hispanic Heritage Month in 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. 

Sept. 12, 2024 – Love it or hate it, pumpkin spice season has arrived. We've got just the book collection to help you lean into the cozy vibes and embrace all things fall.

Aug. 30, 2024 – Welcoming Week in Cedar Rapids is Sept. 13-22, 2024, and the library is participating.

Welcoming Week fits under the City of Cedar Rapids “Welcome is Our Language” campaign, seeking to highlight and celebrate the diversity of the community.