The 2011 John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature went to Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool, her first book.

Four honor books were named as well: Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm, Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus, Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman and One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia.

If you have already read one of the books selected, please leave a comment below with your thoughts!

The Caledonia Township branch will close for one week for the move to its new building located at 6260 92nd St.  The last day at the current library, located at 240 Emmons St. SE, will be Saturday, January 22, and  the new branch will open for business on Tuesday, February 1.  A Grand Opening Celebration will take place on Saturday, February 12, starting with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 9:30 am and followed by activities for all ages throughout the day. 

While the branch is closed:

Returns

• Materials checked out at the Caledonia branch that become due while we are closed will be due back on our first open day, Tuesday, February 1.
• Returns will not be accepted at the old library after 5:00 pm on Saturday, January 22.
• KDL items may be returned to any KDL branch while we are closed.

Holds

• If you receive a hold notice, please pick up your hold before 5:00 pm on Saturday, January 22.
• We will keep holds set to expire between January 25 and January 30 at our new location until February 8. 

 Please call 784-2007 with any questions.

If disaster strikes, would you be ready? The GET READY! Kent County twelve-month citizen preparedness program focuses on a different area of emergency preparedness each month. In January, you are encouraged to stay informed and know the hazards in your area. Check out this fact sheet for more information.

KDL is teaming up with the Kent County Sheriff Department, Health Department and the American Red Cross to make sure you are prepared for an emergency. Remember, when disaster strikes, it is easier to cope when you are prepared!

All Kent District Library branches will be closed Monday, January 17 for an All Staff professional development day. We’re taking a day to make sure we’re the best library system we can be for all of our customers. Please pardon our absence, and we’ll all be back on Tuesday, January 18!

Is “Learn a New Language” one of your New Year’s resolutions? Our online language learning resource, Mango Languages, just announced that they’ve added even more new languages to their program:

• Chinese (Cantonese)
• Danish
• Finnish
• Haitian Creole
• Norwegian

They’ve also added new Complete courses for a few languages that previously only featured the Basic edition:

• Arabic (Levantine)
• Irish
• Urdu
• ESL for Chinese (Mandarin) Speakers

Mango Languages is free to all KDL cardholders, and is an easy, effective way to learn to speak a foreign language. Mango is available in two versions:

Mango Basic: Perfect for a foreign language beginner, Mango Basic teaches everyday greetings, gratitudes, goodbyes and helpful phrases in a short period of time. The courses, which require only two to five hours of time to complete, are currently available in 34 foreign languages and 15 English as a Second Language (ESL) courses:

Mango Complete: Mango Complete offers a 100-lesson course that digs much deeper and is designed to provide a more complete understanding of the entire language and culture. It is available in all of the languages above except for Dari, Pashto, Tagalog, and ESL Arabic.

Learn more about Mango Languages, or start using it today!

Monday morning, Twitter was full of eager readers, authors and publishers waiting for the announcement from the American Library Association on which books and authors were selected for the many youth awards.

YALSA, a division of ALA, administers the Michael L Printz award, which is given “for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.”  The committee selected Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi for the award this year.

Four honor books were chosen as well: Nothing by Janne Teller, Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King, Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick and Stolen by Lucy Christopher.

For a complete list of all the award winners announced, ALA has prepared a press release.

If you have already read Ship Breaker, please leave a comment below with your thoughts about the book!

Parents and caregivers of children are invited to participate in the Early Childhood Essentials classes at KDL this winter. If you have young children or if you work in child care and need professional development hours, the Early Childhood Essentials series is for you. The classes are for adults and childcare is not provided.

Workshops will include:

“Little Tyke Science”  – Tuesday, January 18 at 6:30 PM at the Plainfield Township branch
“Tour of the New Kentwood Library” – Wednesday, January 19 at 6:30 PM at the Kentwood branch
“Great Books for Children Under 5″ – Thursday, January 20 at 6:30 PM at the Byron Township branch
“Magical Math” – Monday, January 31 at 6:30 PM at the Grandville Middle School (3535 Wilson SW)
“How Children Learn to Read” – Tuesday, February 15 at 6:30 PM at the Plainfield Township branch
“Kindergarten Readiness” – Wednesday, February 16 at 6:30 PM at the Kentwood branch
“Little Tyke Science” – Thursday, February 17 at 6:30 PM at the Byron Township branch
“Non-Fiction for Preschoolers” – Monday, February 21 at 6:00 PM at the East Grand Rapids branch
“Ready to Learn Workshop” – Monday, February 21 at 6:30 PM at the Grandville Middle School (3535 Wilson SW)

Registration is required and participation is limited. Classes are filling up fast, so sign up today!

Some local news sources mistakenly reported that KDL would be closed “Monday” for staff training. This should have been next Monday, January 17.

All KDL branches are open normal hours today. We will be closed next Monday (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) for our annual staff training day.

We apologize for the confusion.

Each month KDL staff join Shelley Irwin on the WGVU Morning Show to talk about what’s going on at the library. This month, listen to Patrice Vrona and Kris Vogelar from KDL’s Grandville Branch talk about the Grandville Reads community reading event. Enjoy!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download WGVU1-6-11.mp3

(photo courtesty of Shelley Irwin)

Though not all tax forms are available yet at our branches, they can be printed off the Tax Resources and Information page of the KDL website. The page also includes links to applicable websites, popular tax books and general information.

Most tax forms will be delivered to the KDL branches by the end of January, although we might not have all of the forms available until mid-February.