Archive for 2014

KDL by the Numbers

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014

2013AnnualReportStatsDid you know…

  • On a typical day in 2013, over 8,000 people visited KDL branches, checking out over 16,000 items
  • Our staff also answered almost 2,500 questions every day!
  • Over 400,000 eBooks and eAudiobooks were downloaded in 2013 – a circulation figure that outpaced 12 of our 18 branches!

For these statistics and more, check out the 2013 Fact Book and Annual Report. The Fact Book is a full publication of KDL information from the past year, while the Annual Report is a shortened “Cliff’s Notes” brochure version. Check them out not only for the hard numbers, but also for a nice summary of all the KDL programs, resources, initiatives and achievements from last year, as well as a financial breakdown of revenue and expenditures.

 


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Learn4Life Is Now Gale Courses

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014

 

Gale CoursesThere’s been a name change for one of our popular online resources: Learn4Life has been renamed Gale Courses. 

Besides the name and logo, nothing else has changed — Gale Courses still features over 300 instructor-led online courses focused on professional development, technology skills and personal enrichment. New sessions start every month, and each 6-week course offers well-crafted lessons, expert online instruction and interaction with fellow students in a lively discussion area.

These are the types of classes that may cost hundreds of dollars to take from a for-profit company, but they are available for free with your KDL card! For more information, please see our original announcement.

(Currently enrolled students should experience no disruption in classes due to this re-branding. If you have any questions, please contact webmaster@kdl.org

 


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Contest Extended: Share Your Story & Win

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014

online courseHave you taken computer classes offered at KDL? Have those classes helped you improve your tech savvy, polish your job skills, create a film or enriched your life, your outlook, your very being in some other way? Tell us how and you could win a $25 Schuler Books & Music gift card and see your story on our Branches Patron Stories page.

To enter, fill out the form here by Friday, May 2. Contest open to teens and adults.

 

 


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Two Titles to Get Your Blood Boiling

Monday, April 21st, 2014

Looking to add a little rage into your life? Take your blood pressure medication and check out these new titles.

The Divide                  Flash Boys

Veteran Rolling Stone reporter Matt Taibbi is your tour guide into The Divide – the bizarro-America where a joint in a man’s pocket lands him in Rikers but money laundering $850 million for a drug cartel earns not a single day in prison. Taibbi traces the history of Too Big to Jail and criminalization of poverty. Taibbi’s biting wit and fierce insight is at full strength in his latest work.

“Stock market’s rigged,” declared Michael Lewis in his 60 Minutes interview. In Flash Boys Lewis shines a light on the dark world of high frequency trading (HFT) — buying and selling stock at rates 100 times faster than the blink of an eye. The story focuses on Brad Katsuyama, an investor at a Canadian Bank who wonders why it seems like the market reads his mind. Why does the price spike immediately before he buys shares? The answer is that HFTs are front-running: beating investors to the punch and selling them inflated stock. Master storyteller Lewis makes financial reporting a thrilling page-turner.

 


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Book Bash Is This Weekend!

Monday, April 21st, 2014

BookBash-KDL_jpgBook Bash is right around the corner! We hope you plan to attend our Giant Warehouse Book Sale, featuring more than 20,000 gently-used books and other items that will be available for just 50 cents to $1 each. Sunday is Bag Day — $5 buys as many items as you can fit in a bag. All proceeds support Summer Reading @ KDL and other branch programs. Held at the KDL Service Center, 814 West River Center Dr. NE in Comstock Park.

Friday, April 25, 5:00 – 8:00 PM (Special time for teachers only from 3:00 – 5:00 PM)
Saturday, April 26, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Sunday, April 27, 1:00 – 4:00 PM

 


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Early Lit Bits: Learning with Crafts — Recycled Planters and Watering Can

Saturday, April 19th, 2014

Recycled Planters and Watering Can:Play-Grow-Read

Spring is just around the corner. It’s time to garden. Gardening teaches patience, nurturing skills and even builds vocabulary as children learn the names of different vegetables and plants. Repurpose containers from around the house to make fun planters and a simple watering can.

Materials:

  • Seeds (fast-growing seeds such as beans or grass work well)
  • Potting soil
  • Yogurt cups, coffee pods, old baby shoes, empty eggshells or stale ice cream cones
  • A one-gallon milk jug
  • Drill with small drill bit (adult use only)

To Make:

Look around the house for fun containers to use for planting. Any small plastic container will do. Stale flat-bottomed ice cream cones make excellent seedling planters and are completely biodegradable. Simply start a seed by sowing it in a cone filled with soil and plant the whole cone in the ground once the seedling is established. Outgrown shoes and boots also make fun outdoor planters too. Fill a planter with soil and sow the seeds according to the directions on the package. Water gently and set in a sunny window.

Make a simple watering can by drilling several small holes in the cap of a milk jug. Partially fill the jug with water so that it’s not too heavy for children to lift and screw the top on.  Encourage children to water the plants and observe the seeds as they sprout and grow.

To Use:

As the seeds sprout, talk about the different parts of the plant: the root, stem and leaves. Use a ruler to measure the plant every day or take a picture of the plant every day to record its growth.

–Anjie G. at KDL’s Walker Branch

 


 

This article originally appeared in our Early Lit Bits eNewsletter. Read the most recent issue online or sign up to receive this monthly update highlighting early literacy tips and resources for parents and caregivers.

 


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KDL Top Ten — Adult Inspirational Fiction

Friday, April 18th, 2014

Stir the soul and brighten your day with this week’s Top Ten!  These are ten of the most popular Adult Inspirational Fiction titles at KDL this month:

Top Ten Adult Inspirational 04-18-2014

Tell us: What’s your favorite Inspirational title?

 


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Author Gabriel García Márquez Dies At Age 87

Friday, April 18th, 2014

Gabriel García Márquez, well-known Colombian author of “One Hundred Years of Solitude” and “Love in the Time of Cholera,” died Thursday at the age of 87 at his home in Mexico City.  His works of fiction were deeply rooted in a Latin American landscape but found universal appeal, with his works being translated into dozens of languages.

García Márquez also received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. “Each new work of his is received by expectant critics and readers as an event of world importance,” the Swedish Academy of Letters said in awarding him the Nobel.

 

 


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Holiday Closing — Easter Sunday

Thursday, April 17th, 2014

All Kent District Library branches will be closed Sunday, April 20 for Easter. We will resume normal operating hours on Monday, April 21. For additional 2014 holiday closing information, please view our holiday closings page.

We appreciate your patronage and wish you a Happy Easter!

 

Happy Easter

 

 


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Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence

Wednesday, April 16th, 2014

andrewcarnegiemedalThe Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence recently announced the awards shortlist:

In Fiction:

In Nonfiction:

The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction were established in 2012 to recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. the previous year. The winners (one for fiction, one for nonfiction) are announced at an event at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference.

 


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