Do you want to unlock more characters in Super Smash Brothers Brawl?  Are you stuck on a difficult level in Legend of Zelda?  Kent District Library can help.  Libraries now have guides for these specific games as well as Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Star Wars, Mario Kart,  and others.  You can also check out multiple game cheat code books. 

The Grandville Branch of the Kent District Library would like to invite you, on July 31 at 6:00pm, to the 5^th annual Amped at the Amphitheatre.  If you are a music fan this is the event for you.  Amped is a concert, where you get to watch a number of local teen bands perform live, for free!

Check out our line up of bands for the night!

• Blessed Ambrosia

• Ras Tyger

• Tobaganing For California

• The Outer Vibe

So, if you want to enjoy some great music, and have a wonderful evening stop by the Grandville branch on July 31 at 6:00pm.  See you there!

Amped @ the Amphitheatre 2008 is made possible thanks to our sponsors The Corner Record Shop and Coat of Many Colors. 

The East Grand Rapids branch of the Kent District Library invites all Stephenie Meyer fans to celebrate the release of her new book Breaking Dawn. Join us for A Nite with a Bite on Friday, August 1 from 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Enjoy snacks, play vampire-themed games, do spooky crafts and get bitten with a temporary tattoo. You can also watch a showing of the Twilight trailer and play Twilight trivia.

Be sure to come dressed in costume for the Death Becomes You photo shoot. Copies of the book will be on sale at midnight.

If you’re not already a fan, you should be! Breaking Dawn is Meyer’s fourth book in the Twilight series of vampire-based novels that follow the adventures of Isabella Swan, a teenager who finds her life turned upside down when she falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen.

Come celebrate Breaking Dawn with a late night party!

KDL is pleased to debut a new public service announcement on a number of local television stations starting this month. Stay tuned to WXMI-17, WZZM-13, and select Comcast cable stations, or just click below to view the complete video and let us know what you think.

You can also check out our brand-new YouTube channel to see this and other library-related videos highlighting our Summer Reading Club programs and more!

KDL — Discover Your Library

Watch more KDL videos!

Are you looking for a rewarding volunteer opportunity?
Consider volunteering as a tutor for the Literacy Center of West Michigan.

The Literacy Center of West Michigan has helped thousands of area adults learn to read or speak English. To continue our mission, we need dedicated individuals like you to volunteer for our Adult Tutoring Program. You will be trained by experienced staff and will be matched with an adult student for weekly tutoring in reading or English as a Second Language. You will receive free materials, lesson plan ideas, and ongoing support.  All you need is about 2 hours each week and a genuine desire to help others.

To learn more about becoming a volunteer reading or ESL tutor, please call 616-459-5151 to register for a 1-hour orientation. Tutor training will begin soon, so don’t delay!

Orientation dates and locations:

Aug. 5 – Alpine Ave. Schuler Books & Music
Aug. 11 – Yankee Clipper Library
Sept. 2 – Gaines Township Library
Sept. 4 – Grand Rapids Main Library
Oct. 1 – Cascade Library
Oct. 7 – Wyoming Library

*All orientations 6:30–7:30 p.m.

Dan Zanes records amazingly wonderful family music. His CDs are worth their weight in gold. My favorite CDs are House Party and Catch That Train. Did you know that Dan Zanes has also turned a few of his great children’s songs into picture books? Be sure to check out Jump Up by Dan Zanes as well as Hello, Hello by Dan Zanes. The illustrations are by Donald Saaf and they are a lot of fun to look at.

Mem Fox shares her Read Aloud Commandments in her book Reading Magic. Check out her suggestions for reading to young children below:

• Spend at least ten wildly happy minutes every single day reading aloud.
• Read at least three stories a day: it may be the same story three times. Children need to hear a thousand stories before they learn to read!
• Read aloud with animation. Listen to your own voice and don’t be dull, or flat, or boring. Hang loose and be loud, have fun and laugh a lot.
• Read with joy and enjoyment: real enjoyment for yourself and great joy for the listeners.
• Read the stories that the kids love over and over and over again and always read in the same “tune” for each book: i.e. with the same intonations on each page, each time.
• Let children hear lots of language by talking to them constantly; or sing any old song that you can remember; or say nursery rhymes in a bouncy way; or be noisy together doing clapping games.
• Look for rhyme, rhythm or repetition in books for young children, and make sure the books are short!
• Play games with the things that you and the child can see on the page, such as finding the letters that start the child’s name and yours, remembering that it’s never work, it’s always a fabulous game.
• Never ever teach reading, or get tense around books.
• Read aloud every day because you just love being with your child, not because it’s the right thing to do.

This is a MUST READ in the world of literacy and children. Mem Fox creates a wonderful balance of research, real-life examples and fun tidbits. Judith Horaek provides charming cartoons that illustrate the importance of reading aloud with children. The book is in an easy-to-read format that is sure to be inspirational. I highly recommend this book to parents, caregivers, educators, and anyone who is interested in being inspired about literacy and children.

The Cascade Township branch of KDL is currently displaying a tribute to the victims of the May earthquake in China. To honor those who died or lost loved ones, Keling Shen, a Kentwood resident who studied earthquake engineering at Tongji University in Shanghai before studying at the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research at the University of Buffalo, worked with Cascade Library’s Diane Cutler and the Chinese Village Language School in Ada to craft this memorial. The display pays tribute to those who died in the disaster while also informing patrons of the earthquake’s devastation.The display includes books about earthquakes and China, as well as photographs from the China disaster.

The Chinese Association of West Michigan has been accepting donations to help survivors. The organization recently sent a donation to the Red Cross to cover the cost of rebuilding a school. For more information about how to help, contact Dr. Matt Wang at 475-5125.

And be sure to stop in the Cascade Library today to check out the display that honors the earthquake victims.

Thetwilightsaga.com website is offering a free-to-enter sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip to New York City to meet Stephenie Meyer and be one of the first to get a copy of Breaking Dawn! All you have to do is fill out some info on a 3×5 card and mail it in!

In the meantime, check out the other books in the series in our catalog while you are waiting for the Breaking Dawn release.