Due to maintenance issues, KDL’s Wyoming branch will be temporarily closed until further notice. Please check our blog or call our main line at 784-2007 for status updates. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to be up and running soon!

Our Wyoming branch is once again open! Thank you.

Due to maintenance issues, KDL’s Wyoming branch will be temporarily closed until further notice. Please check our blog or call our main line at 784-2007 for status updates. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to be up and running soon!

Our Wyoming branch is once again open! Thank you.

Due to current weather conditions, the Kent District Library will be closed until 12pm today, February 21. We will resume normal business hours at that time.

Stay safe everyone, and we hope to see you soon!

This year marks the 75th Anniversary of the Kent District Library, and we’re celebrating with a number of events, highlights, and special initiatives all year long to chronicle the journey. From 1936, when the Kent County Board of Supervisors officially established the Kent County Library, to today, we’ll be highlighting some of the key milestones, achievements, and challenges we’ve encountered along the way. Many things have changed in those 75 years, but our goal of enriching lives by providing outstanding library service still remains the same. 

Stay tuned throughout the year as we take a trip down memory lane and look at a few of the highlights that have taken place over the course of our 75 years. 

Now, a few treasures from the KDL archives:  

The Old Kent County Courthouse (circa 1940s), an early home of the Kent County Library.

 

Mabel Balyeat: Library Pioneer and founder of the Kent County Library Association. (Photo taken in 1984)

 

Kent County Library Bookmobile (1950s)

 

The Kent County Library bookmobile makes a schoolhouse stop.

 

Do you have any old Kent County/Kent District Library memories you’d like to share? We’d love to hear them! Please share your story in the comments section below.

The Kent District Library invites you to meet the candidates running to serve as the next KDL Library Director. This is your opportunity to hear what each candidate has to say and get answers to the questions and concerns you may have regarding the future leadership of our library system. 

The two candidates include Cheryl Garrison, Assistant Director of the Kent District Library (Comstock Park, MI) and Dan Siebersma, State Librarian of the South Dakota State Library (Pierre, SD).

Join us on Thursday, October 14, at 7:00pm to meet the candidates and submit your questions. This event will be held at KDL’s Wyoming branch.

Last night, hundreds of attendees filled the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center for a memorable evening with bestselling author David Baldacci. Baldacci shared a number of humorous, interesting, and moving stories about life as a novelist and all of the attention, pressures, and unique situation it brings. The author also spoke of the importance of literacy and highlighted the efforts of his Wish You Well Foundation, which provides grant funding for literacy projects. 

Attendees also donated new or gently used books in support of the Feeding Body and Mind program, an effort that helps to get books in the hands of those in need. The books will be distributed through Feeding America West Michigan.

Presented by the KDL Fund and supporting KDL’s literacy programs for young children, this year’s A Novel Experience event was another big success. The Kent District Library would like to extend a huge thank you to all of the people in attendance for supporting the library’s literacy efforts. We certainly hope you’ll join us for next year’s A Novel Experience event. For further event recap, check out this Grand Rapids Press feature.

Which author would you like to see at future A Novel Experience events?
Let us know in the comments section of this post. 

Event Photos:  

Baldacci speaks to the crowd (photo courtesy of Grand Rapids Press)

Attendees line up for the book signing

A crowd gathers to purchase books

Baldacci poses with an event poster

Thanks again for your support of local literacy efforts.
Don’t forget to leave your event feedback below or let us know who you might like to see next year. 

With KDL’s Summer Reading Club now over, it’s a great time to reflect on the amazing accomplishments of this year’s participants.  Over 20,600 children and teens read their way through the summer months in order to accomplish their reading goals. During that time, new worlds were explored and new discoveries were made through the power of books and reading. In addition to that, young minds were kept active and sharp by engaging in the process of reading. Studies have consistently shown that children who do not read during the summer typically score lower on tests at the end of summer than they did at the beginning.

In addition to these benefits, did you also know that:

• Summer programs that involve some form of parental involvement produce larger, positive effects than programs without this component?

• Summer reading setback is one of the important factors contributing to the reading achievement gap between rich and poor children?

So, although Summer Reading Club is certainly a great way to have fun and win prizes, the benefits go far beyond that. We’re also proud to highlight that, as published by the Public Library Association, successful summer reading clubs are defined as those that reach more than 8% of the total school-age child population, and the Kent District Library reached 18% this year!

KDL would like to thank and congratulate all of this year’s Summer Reading Club participants and we look forward to seeing you again next year.

We’d love to hear about your favorite Summer Reading Club book or activity. And if you’re a parent, let us know how your child may have benefitted from their participation. Please leave your feedback in the comments section below. Thanks!

Get ready for an afternoon of fun next week Monday, August 23, from 12pm-4pm for a special Open House event to celebrate the Kent District Library’s new Kentwood branch! The event will feature live music, refreshments, prizes, activities for children and more. Katie L., Clifford and other popular children’s characters will also be stopping by.

Join us as we begin a new chapter at the Kentwood branch, located at 4950 Breton SE, Kentwood. Note: Regular branch hours will begin on Tuesday the 24th.

Hope to see you there!

Tickets for our August 13 Eat, Pray, Love VIP Premiere Party at Celebration Cinema South are sold out; however, for those that would like to join in the fun, Celebration Cinema is offering a special non-VIP package for $15 that includes a movie ticket, pop and popcorn, 2 free spins on the prize wheel, and reserved seating. $5 of each sale will be donated to the KDL Fund, supporting literacy programs for young children. Like the VIP package, this $15 package won’t last long, so reserve yours today or come early to purchase.

We hope to see you at Celebration Cinema South on August 13 at 6:30pm
for the premiere of Eat, Pray, Love.

Our public computer stations are temporarily down. We apologize for the inconvenience. We will alert you when they are once again available.

Thank you

Update: As of Monday, August 2, all computers should be functioning normally again. Thanks for your patience.