Library Love Bomb: Heather

August 4th, 2014

Tomorrow: KDL millage election

A life-long library user and KDL volunteer says libraries belong to everyone, and that everyone should be invested in keeping them around.

Drop a library love bomb: Upload a short video of your own to KDL’s Facebook page!


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Free Computer Classes for Adults

August 4th, 2014

Fall 2014 Computer Class BrochureWhether you’re a computer novice or looking to update your skills, KDL’s free computer classes can help you learn something new! Registration opens today for our September classes:

  • Computer Basics: Mousing and More
  • Computer Basics: Where’s My Stuff?
  • Computer Basics: Windows 8 — Using It and Loving It!
    (B.Y.O. Laptop)
  • Gadgets: B.Y.O. eReader & Tablet Users Group
    (pre-registration not required)
  • Internet: Email Basics
  • Internet: Facebook Basics
  • Internet: Getting Started on Craigslist
  • Internet: Google — More Than Just a Search Engine
  • Internet: Internet Basics & More
  • Internet: Online Security
  • Internet: Pinterest Basics
  • Microsoft Excel Basics I & II
  • Microsoft PowerPoint Basics
  • Microsoft Word Basics I, II & III
  • Career Transitions Workshop: LinkedIn Boot Camp
  • Speak to a Geek (pre-registration not required)

For class descriptions and schedule, please see our brochure or search our events calendar.

Unless otherwise noted, pre-registration is required and will begin the month before the scheduled classes on the first Monday of each month for KDL cardholders and the second Monday for non-KDL cardholders (if space is still available):

  • September classes: Registration begins Monday, August 4 for KDL cardholders
    (Monday, August 11 for non-KDL cardholders)
  • October classes: Registration begins Tuesday, September 2 for KDL cardholders
    (Monday, September 8 for non-KDL cardholders)
  • November classes: Registration begins Monday, October 6 for KDL cardholders
    (Monday, October 13 for non-KDL cardholders)

To register, please call 616-784-2007.


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Early Lit Bits: App Review — Sesame Street Family Play

August 3rd, 2014

Sesame Street Family PlaySesame Street Family Play is a great tool to get your family interacting and active together. The app is full of ideas (up to 150) to help keep kids entertained in various situations like at the store, in a restaurant or while traveling. Simply follow the prompts and as you select for your location and number of players, you are given suggestions of silly and entertaining activities using basic, everyday items. With this app, you are also promoting learning that is fun! Some of the activities will get you moving and working your muscles while others work on memorization, letters, numbers, critical thinking, science concepts and more. Bring some extra fun to bath time, while waiting in line or anytime as you talk and play with your child using this app available from the Apple app store for $.99.

– Julie R. at KDL’s Caledonia Township 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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Finding Election Information

August 2nd, 2014

VotingYard signs, political commercials and robo-calls — yes, it’s election time again. If you are feeling bewildered wading through the various candidates and proposals on the Tuesday, August 5 primary ballot, here are some resources to help:

Michigan Voter Information Center
Check if you are registered to vote, get information on absentee voting, and view a personalized sample ballot.

MLive Michigan Voter Guide
Enter your address to find your local races, then compare candidates’ views on various issues.

Vote411.org
Nonpartisan election information from the League of Women Voters

State Proposal 1 Analysis
Background, pros and cons provided by the League of Women Voters

Kent County Senior Millage Information
Information from the Area Agency on Aging of West Michigan

KDL Millage Information
FAQs about the KDL millage proposal. The KDL millage question will be the last question on the ballot.

(image courtesy of League of Women Voters of California)


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KDL Top Ten — Teen Fiction

August 1st, 2014

Summer Reading @ KDL continues through Saturday, August 9.  Read fantastic books, and enter to win prizes!

This week’s Top Ten highlights 10 of the hottest titles in Teen Fiction at our libraries this summer:

Top Ten Teen Fiction 08-01-2014

 


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KDL Gives Back: School Supply Santa

August 1st, 2014

School SuppliesIt’s time to start thinking about back-to-school shopping, but some local families don’t have the resources to purchase even the basic school supplies. Would you be willing to help meet this need?

During the month of August, all 18 KDL branches will collect school supplies in support of School Supply Santa, a local organization that collects and distributes school supplies for students in need. Requested supplies include backpacks, notebooks, crayons, markers, rulers, glues sticks, pencils, etc…. basically anything you would buy your own children to prepare them for school.

Thank you in advance for your generosity!


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Video Love Bomb: Heidi

July 31st, 2014

A life-long Byron Township area resident explains what an integral part of her family’s life the library has become.

Drop a library love bomb: Upload a short video of your own to KDL’s Facebook page!


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Youth Author Spotlight: Tim Federle

July 30th, 2014

Tim Federle

Tim Federle is a new author in the world of children’s books. He is fantastic and I believe one of the few authors that really understands what it is like to be a 12-year-old boy with big dreams!

Tim’s debut novel for kids, Better Nate Than Ever — described as “Judy Blume as seen through a Stephen Sondheim lens” by Huffington Post — was named a New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2013, a Slate.com Favorite Book of the Year, and a Best Book of the Year by both Amazon and Publishers Weekly.

Nate is a chubby, enthusiastic eighth-grader who sports a jutting underbite and an acne-spotted nose, and dreams of performing in a Broadway musical. He concocts a plan with his fabulous friend, Libby, to run away to New York and audition for the role of a lifetime as Elliot in the musical version of “E.T.” Nate embarks on this journey with nothing but a box of chocolate donuts, his mother’s debit card and a not-so-convincing fake I.D. This is a book of clever witticisms, a sudden desire to eat free chips and salsa and happy endings.

The sequel, Five, Six, Seven, Nate!, follows Nate Foster’s further adventures on-stage and off. It was named a Best Book of 2014 (So Far) by Amazon, received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus.

 


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Patron Story: Myah Medendorp

July 29th, 2014

004007Meet Myah Medendorp. She’s 11 years old and she is fabulous.

When you’re 6 years old, having to wait five years for anything can be, quite literally, almost a whole other lifetime. But for Myah, it was just her first five-year plan.

Read Myah’s story here.

 

 

 


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Experience Summer Online

July 29th, 2014

This summer KDL patrons have been learning new skills, visiting area parks, downloading e-books, and much more for Experience Summer Online. You still have time to join them in a wide variety of activities for chances to win prizes — just complete some simple and fun activities by Saturday, August 9. Check out these pictures of KDL patrons experiencing summer:

Learning How to Knit Morning Stories Battle Creek Field of Flight Air Show & Balloon Festival4th of July on Reed's Lake

 


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