News & Updates

When she was a child, Morgan Miller remembers her local library as the place she would run to when she needed to escape an abusive home.

“That was my safe space. It always has been,” she said. “The library is a safe place for anyone to be.”

Per the Iowa Code section 384.15A, documents for the City of Cedar Rapids total maximum property tax dollars: https://www.cedar-rapids.org/local_government/departments_a_-_f/finance/b

CEDAR RAPIDS – The Cedar Rapids Public Library invites the public to a free morning of poetry, storytelling, and songs with Iowa Poet Laureate Debra Marquart. 

The Cedar Rapids Public Library was honored to accept the Jerry Kline Community Impact Prize during a celebration held at the American Library Association’s LibLearnX Conference in New Orleans on Jan. 30. 

The Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation will celebrate five years of bringing Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Cedar Rapids children and will mail the 300,000th free book to a Cedar Rapids child in early 2023. 

What did Cedar Rapids library patrons read, listen to and watch this year?

What did Cedar Rapids library patrons read and watch this year? While we aren't going to send you a personal "Library Wrapped" list – we don't track your data that way – we did compile the top borrows across the library in 2022.

Doug Munson, who retired in 2021 after 33 years, agreed.

“I just liked it. I like helping people find materials,” he said. “It’s the people I worked with and the patrons I met that kept me there so long. I liked everybody I worked with.”

The Metro Library Network, consisting of Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha, and Marion public libraries, will be updating the online catalog to the new VEGA interface on December 13, 2022.

Unleash your crafty side at the library this winter. From Crafternoons to card making to a Tiny Art Show, we have plenty of opportunities for all ages to get creative. 

Maker Space Craft Night for Teens and Adults

The holiday season is here, and the library has a full schedule of music for patrons to enjoy, including the return of Merry TubaChristmas at the Downtown Library and a "Nutcracker" music class for kids.

Cedar Rapids Public Library Awarded 2022 Jerry Kline Community Impact Prize, Recognizing the Public Library as a Vital Community Asset

The Friends of the Cedar Rapids Public Library big annual book sale is returning with a new location, moving to the Downtown Library, 450 Fifth Ave. SE.  

The African American Museum of Iowa is unveiling a new exhibit, "Suspended: Systemic Oppression in Our Schools" on Friday, October 14, at the Downtown Cedar Rapids Public Library. It will be on display through the summer of 2023 in the library's third floor gallery.