• All Kent District Library branches will be closed on Monday, May 27, in observance of Memorial Day. We will resume normal operating hours on Tuesday, May 28.
• All KDL branches will be closed on Sundays from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. Sunday hours will resume on Sunday, September 8.
• For additional 2013 holiday closing information, please view our holiday closings page.

We appreciate your patronage and wish you a Happy Memorial Day!

In honor of Memorial Day, this week’s Top Ten list features ten of the most popular Military-related books at KDL. To view these titles, click on the link to your KDL Top Ten List.

Sure, a good portion of our programs are for families, kids and teens, but we didn’t want you grown-ups to miss out on all the library fun! We have an exciting line-up of programs for adults taking place at our branches this summer. These programs will help you learn a new skill, plan a vacation or even determine if someone is trying to deceive you! Click on each event title for dates, times, locations and the event description. Don’t let the kids have all the fun!

• Book Sales
• Computer Classes and Technology Programs
• Sit-N-Stitch
• Midwest Travels with Steve Ellis
• Zen Design
• Cascade Writer’s Group
• Music on the Deck
• Beneath the Surface: Earth Shelter Project Michigan
• Digging for the Truth Using Linguistic Statement Analysis
• Author Visit: Scott Bitely
• Crossroads: Exploring Business Ownership Options

View ten of the most popular Children’s Picture books this month at KDL – click on the link to your Top Ten List!

A couple weeks ago I told you we were a finalist for the Excellence in Business EPIC Award from the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce. I’m thrilled to announce that we won the award last night at an event at the Frederik Meijer Gardens! The other finalists for the award were Elzinga & Volkers and Cascade Engineering.

If you want to read about the designation, you’ll find that background in my previous post. In a nutshell, this means the West Michigan-area business community recognizes that KDL is not only a leading governmental entity, but that we understand that successful governmental entities place as much importance as their business counterparts on their fiscal health, service innovation, customer and employee satisfaction and civic responsibility.

This isn’t Lance Werner’s award, or even KDL’s award alone. It’s recognition of all the parts that make up this whole: the nearly 300 KDL staffers who make your library experience great every time; your communities, which recognize how crucial a healthy library system is to its overall health; and to you, our cardholders and taxpayers who support us in all we do. Thank you.

Join millions of readers around the world reading one eBook. As part of Overdrive’s Big Library Read program, we are pleased to offer our patrons unlimited access to the eBook The Four Corners of the Sky by Michael Malone now through June 1. No matter how many KDL patrons are reading this eBook, we will have a copy available for you to download.

The Four Corners of the Sky is master storyteller Michael Malone’s novel of love, secrets, and the mysterious bonds of families. Malone brings characters to life as only he can, exploring the questions that defy easy answers: Is love a choice or a calling? Why do the ties of family bind so tightly? And is forgiveness a gift to others…or a gift we give ourselves?

We encourage you to join this global “library book club!”

Word Wise, KDL’s annual teen poetry contest, celebrated its tenth year and it once again was a huge success thanks to all the great teen poets out there. This year, nearly 200 poems were submitted. Library staff reviewed the poems and narrowed down the entries, submitting them to Grand Rapids Poet Laureate, David Cope, for final analysis. Ten winners were chosen and a PDF of the winning poems is available for your reading pleasure.

Congratulations to the winning poets!

A Day’s Worth of Broken Haiku by Alex Courtade

A Ghazal in a Shadow by Alistair Poole

The Script of the Lost by Stephanie Sutherland

Unseen Actors by Karina Bursch

Stars by Makenzie Hutchings

Opening the Worn Cigar Box in the Basement by Hannah Fleming

The Perfect Kiss by Emily Anderson

That Sweet Aroma by Kate Ruehrdanz

The Broken Poet by Paige Jackson

Watching the Stars by Bethany Garvon

The school year is winding down, and that means we are gearing up for Summer Reading @ KDL. With programs for kids, teens and adults, we are inviting the whole family to get Grounded in Happiness @ KDL. And if discovering some great books isn’t enough of an incentive to participate, we have also got some awesome prizes up for grabs, including gift cards to nearly 20 different stores, John Ball Zoo memberships, iPods, NOOK eReaders and more!

Summer Reading @ KDL kicks off on Saturday, June 1. Stop by your local branch to sign up, and don’t forget to pick up a program guide while you’re there. Our summer line-up includes dinosaurs, magic, animals, food and music, just to name a few! Watch this video to amp up your excitement!

KDL is a proud ticket sponsor of the WGVU Real Oldies Concert at the Ball Park! This free event will be held on Saturday, June 1 at 6:00 PM at Fifth Third Ball Park in Comstock Park. Featured bands are The Grass Roots, The Eschelons and The Westside Soul Surfers.

You do not have to have a KDL library card to get a free concert ticket. Watch the video below for full event details, go to Freegal and use your KDL card to download some of the artists’ music (on us!), then pick up your tickets today at any one of our 18 branches!

As part of this fundraiser to help support WGVU Real Oldies and the West Michigan Whitecaps Inner City Youth Baseball/Softball program, a classic car show in the parking lot starts at 3:00 PM.

Thank you for helping us address childhood hunger in Kent County by supporting Kids’ Food Basket! During the month of April, KDL Gives Back sponsored juice box collection and bag decorating stations at all 18 branches. Together we were able to collect and donate 1,300 juice boxes and 2,500 brown paper lunch bags. Thank you for your generosity!

In addition to the donations, over 70 KDL staff, family and friends were able to spend two great evenings at Kids’ Food Basket making close to 4,500 sandwiches and packing just as many sack suppers!

Kids’ Food Basket is a nonprofit West Michigan organization whose mission is to make sure children in our community do not go to bed hungry. The group began more than nine years ago by serving 125 kids every school day through its Sack Supper program, and now serves nearly 5,000 kids every day.

*top photo courtesy Kids’ Food Basket