Have you visited the Computer Basics Wiki on the KDL webpage?  It’s a great resource for the beginning computer user.  It includes links to websites where people can learn how to type, use a mouse, and generally become more familiar with using a computer.  Recently links to some helpful computer tips have been added.  The tips include information on how to attach a file in email, how to burn data or music to a CD, and how to cut, copy and paste.  Although this information may seem quite basic, we can all remember a time when we didn’t know how to do these things.  So please feel free to share these tips with those who may need them.

May is “Leave a Legacy” Month.

For over 70 years the Kent District Library has been a vital part of our community, working diligently to create a love of reading among its citizens of all ages. KDL has created a legacy of lifelong learning and literacy for our community.

KDL needs your help to ensure this legacy continues for generations to come.

Please consider leaving your legacy by making a charitable bequest to the Kent District Library.

An estate gift to the Kent District Library Fund will allow you to create a legacy of lifelong learning for your library while meeting your own financial and personal objectives. Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to: reduce income, gift and estate taxes; secure a source of cash flow for the rest of your life; or reduce or eliminate capital gains taxes.

Gifts large and small are important, and there are many different ways to “Leave a Legacy” to KDL through planned giving.  For more information contact Janice Fonger at 616-784-2092.

Great news! On May 5 the citizens of Caledonia Township voters approved 1,578 to 592 a proposal to permit the Township to build a 19,000 s.f. library on 10 acres of land purchased off 92nd Street near Broadmoor on Emmons Lake. Some of the features of the new library are to include:

• Larger, more varied book collection
• Additional computers
• Dedicated space for children and teenagers
• Drive up book drop
• Greater accessibility for disabled patrons
• Comfortable seating areas for quiet reading
• A community room for reading programs and community events
• Small study rooms for tutoring and group projects
• More parking
• Public restrooms
• Drinkable, usable water supply
• Energy efficient heating and cooling
• Sufficient lighting for reading and research
• Dedicated space for local history and genealogical research
• Children’s garden with benches for seating and library programs

We are so thankful that the community has shown their support to the Township to move forward and build the kind of the library this community deserves. A lot of great memories have been created at the current branch location but we’re very excited to “turn the page” and create even more.

With Jim Gill performing, you’re sure to find yourself singing, clapping, dancing and even sneezing along! Jim will visit the East Grand Rapids branch of KDL on Saturday, May 16 at 6:00 p.m. We hope you’ll join us as Jim bangs out energetic rhythms on his banjo and supplies a rocking good time for the little ones.

Jim Gill is a musician and author, but he is also, by training, a child development specialist with a graduate degree from the Erikson Institute of Chicago. His goal has always been to promote active play between adults and children with his music.

No registration required.

May is Get Caught Reading Month, sponsored by the Association of American Publishers. Reading is essential to our lives, and can be a fun, leisurely activity for anyone!

So stop by any KDL branch location, pick up some of your favorite books, and Get Caught Reading this month!