Due to current weather conditions, the Kent District Library will be closed until 12pm today, March 23 . We will resume normal business hours at that time.
Stay safe everyone, and we hope to see you soon!
As you delve into your genealogy research, you will find many instances where the record gives the person’s age at death listed with years, months and days instead of any birth date information. But before you pull out your calendar and start counting backwards, there are a number of websites that will calculate the birth date for you. The ProGenealogists site has a nice calculation page. You can select the Gregorian or Julian calendar and you don’t need to worry about leap years!
Share one of your favorite genealogy websites in the comments below!
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins is one of the 20 Michigan Thumbs Up! award book selections of 2010. The complete list and voting information is available from the MLA website or at your local library.
Anna is shipped off to boarding school in Paris for her senior year, forcing her to leave behind her best friend as well as a developing romance. But things start to look up when she meets Étienne St. Claire, except for the fact he has a girlfriend. Readers journey with Anna through her discovery of new friends and Paris as well as her problems at home and her growing attraction to St. Claire.
Look for Perkin’s second book, Lola and the Boy Next Door, due out September 29th.
If you have a sweet tooth, you won’t want to miss out on this 
delicious program! The Wonderful World of Chocolate will take place at 6:00 pm on Monday, March 28 at the Krause Memorial branch. Join chocolatier Patty Christopher of Patricia’s Chocolate as she discusses the art, tools, and process of making artisan chocolates. Learn about cacao beans, couverture chocolate, and what the percentages mean. You will even get to sample some of Patty’s individually crafted chocolate creations!
This program, sponsored by the Friends of the Krause Memorial Library, is for adults. Registration is required and participation is limited. The program is bound to be popular with all the chocolate lovers out there, so sign up today!
Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian is one of the 20 Michigan Thumbs Up! award book selections of 2010. The complete list and voting information is available from the MLA website or at your local library.
Natalie Sterling is the smart girl who makes the right decisions for her future, including avoiding the jerky boys at her school. But during senior year, when everything is going right, Natalie starts to notice one particular boy. As Natalie draws closer to this boy, she begins loosing her best friend as well as the respect of her favorite teacher. Natalie needs to decide what type of girl she is and if she can look beyond her own rigid ideals.
Siobhan Vivian has written two other books for teens, Same Difference and A Little Friendly Advice.
Due to a scheduled telephone system upgrade, the KDL phon
e system will be unavailable Saturday night through Sunday morning (hours when the library is closed). If you would like to renew materials during that time, please call the Lakeland Library Cooperative automated phone system at 616-453-2575 or log into your online account.
Help KDL collect one of the most basic necessities for babies and toddlers in Kent County: diapers.
The Kent District Library has teamed up with the Great Start Parent Coalition and ACCESS Food Pantries to help families with young children in need. Through May 31, eleven KDL branches will have collection boxes available for diapers to be donated to families in need.
Unopened packages of disposable diapers in any size can be dropped off at these KDL branch locations:
Online monetary donations through PayPal are also appreciated.
The goal of this third-annual county-wide diaper drive is to collect 40,000 diapers for young children in Kent County. Please help us make a difference for the youngest citizens of our community!
Let’s race! The Plainfield Township branch is hosting a Teen Videogame Tournament featuring Mario Kart from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturday, March 26. Teens in grades 6-12 are invited to come pit their racing skills against opponents from all over Kent County. The tournament will include prizes, snacks, and some intense Wii action!
Registration is required and participation is limited. We hope to see you there!
Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier is one of the 20 Michigan Thumbs Up! award book selections of 2010. The complete list and voting information is available from the MLA website or at your local library.
The great Zombies vs. Unicorns debate finally comes to a head in this book. No matter on which side you place yourself, this book is sure to please. Alternating short stories, written by popular teen authors, give a variety of viewpoints on this debate. The banter between Black and Larbalestier at the beginning of each chapter is entertaining as well.
Holly Black is the well known author of the Spiderwick Chronicles as well as other teen books. Justine Larbalestier is the author of Liar and How to Ditch Your Fairy and other books.
You are invited to spend an evening with documentary photographer Ryan Spencer Reed. He will visit the Grandville branch at 6:30 pm on Thursday, March 24. Ryan, an award-winning photo journalist and top 25 ArtPrize contestant, will talk about his experiences photographing the most tumultuous regions of Sudan. He will share slides of his exhibit, Sudan: The Cost of Silence.
The program is offered in celebration of Grandville Reads, and to deepen our understanding of Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate.
