Congratulations Friends of the Library!

Congratulations to the Friends of the Grand Rapids Area Library! The Friends were recently the recipients of a United for Libraries National Friends of Libraries Week Award. There were only 2 awards given in the whole country! The Friends mission is to support the library and staff, the library's mission, and to enhance the library's resources and services that helps support the library. Find more information about the Friends here and consider joining to be part of a national award winning group!

Museum Passes now availableWe just received  Museum passes good for one admission to an area museum before December 31.  These are good at 13 different locations in the region (including the Forest History Center and the Judy Garland Museum as well as the Duluth Depot and the MN Discovery Center) We receive a limited number so must limit passes to 4 per family.  Have fun!
These passes are funded with money from Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage fund.

6th Grade History Passes
MN Historical Society is giving passes to all 6th graders in the state allowing free admission to all 26 MN History Sites through August of 2014.  They are available from www.visitmnhistory.org and at the Forest History Center. Explore History all over the state!

The chair is back!

Paul Bunyan's Chair is back on the corner of Highways 2 and 169.  Ribbon Cutting at 5 pm on Friday, October 4.  Stop by!

Riverfront Energy Center Open House: Sept 6, 4-6 pm

Riverfront Energy Center Open House Grand Rapids Area Library 140 NE 2nd St (West parking lot) September 6, 4 pm – 6 pm.
  Tour the Library’s Energy Center, which extracts heat from the UPM Blandin Plant’s wastewater to warm the building.
 Learn about the solar sunflower and plans for solar electricity generation.
  View a model wind turbine developed by ICC engineering students.
  See the new Educational Dashboard with demonstrations of alternative energy production and the green features of the Library (also accessible from the Library’s web page at: http://www.grandrapids.lib.mn.us/About/riverfront.htm
The Dashboard is also available as an app for an iPad.  Search in iTunes for "Riverfront Energy Center"

Annual Used Book Sale this weekend!

Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Central Square Mall
pick up a great book (or DVD or puzzle or game)

Chair Affair Fundraiser for the Grand Rapids Area Library Foundation

August 6th 5:00 pm at the Timberlake lodge.

BBQ Dinner, music and fun!

Beautiful Adirondack Chairs painted by local artists will be auctioned.

Tickets (only $10 !) available at the Library or from any Library Foundation Board member. Get yours now!

More information and pictures of all chairs are on the Chair Affair pages

All proceeds go towards Library programs and materials. If you can't make it, but want to support the Foundation, Donate Now!

Minnesota's Civic Legacy: Special Exhibit at the Grand Rapids Library

Extended through August 8th! 
This display shows 18 of Minnesota's refurbished, restored and repaired architectural gems of cities around Minnesota.  Old Central School is included! Thanks to the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota for the Loan of the exhibit.

Dinosaur Bones @ your library

On Tuesday, July 16, 125 people visited the Minnesota Science Museum's Dinosaur Bones and Fossils Show under the KAXE/Rotary tent next to the Grand Rapids ARea Library.  Several kids got to help assemble a dinosaur puzzle!

Peeps Diorama Contest Winners

The judging has finished and the winners have been announced in the 1st Annual Peeps Diorama Contest!

5th Grade and Below Category-"Helm's Peep" by Gracie Knauss
6th-12th Grade Category-"Hanging with my Peeps" by Mara Munter
Adult Category-"Peeps Snow Days" by Muggs and Nellie

Peeple's Choice Award
1st Place-"Peeps Snow Days" by Muggs and Nellie

2nd Place-"Helm's Peep" by Gracie Knauss
3rd Place-"Peeperoni and Cheese Peepza" by Patti Carlin-Janssen

Check out this link to the photostream of entries. Which diorama is your favorite?

Thank you to: Marcia and Darla for donating the toothbrush, toothpaste, and dental floss, the Friends of the Library for supplying the Target Gift Cards, and Three Bears Candy Company for donating the gift basket for the Peeple's Choice Award Winner!

Peeps!!!

Do you like the marshmallow treats known as Peeps? Well, the library is having a Peeps diorama contest in March. Use your Peeps to make a scene-maybe your favorite book, or a summer day at the lake. Follow this link for the guidelines and entry form. Get your peeps on!

Grand Rapids Library to host author of Sisterhood of War

Sisterhood of War


Thursday, February 21st, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

With a passion for history of the 1960's, author Kim Heikkila discusses a dramatic story largely overlooked in the literature of that time period: the experiences of women who served as military nurses in the Vietnam War. Heikkila shares the compelling story of what these women did after the war to heal from the traumatic stresses they survived. Heikkila is a professor of history at the College of St. Catherine.

Teens Read

Teens that participated in winter reading read 70,845 pages! Way to go teens! Keep reading!

Grand Rapids Library to host Filmmaker

Cavavanserai: Culture of Morocco


Wednesday, February 20th, 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Moroccan-American Filmmaker, Hakim Belabbes, talks about the culture of his home country using excerpts from his documentary film, A Nest in the Heat. This personal and challenging look at the issues of separation, independence and return, chronicles Belabbes' journey from his "hometown of Boujad to his new home" in Chicago. It explores domestic spaces and religious rituals of intra-family relationships, especially when compounded by one member's break with traditional values.

Grand Rapids Library Receives Muslim journeys bookshelf

The Grand Rapids Area Library is one of 840 libraries and state humanities councils across the country selected to receive the Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA). The program aims to familiarize public audiences in the United States with the people, places, history, faith and cultures of Muslims in the United States and around the world.

YA authors in Twin Cities

Check out the YA authors visiting the Twin Cities this winter. All the authors will be talking on Saturdays so if you're looking for something to do on a weekend check out an author or two!

2013 Minnesota Teen Video Challenge

The 2013 MN Teen Video Challenge has been announced. It is a national video competition for teens to get involved with reading and the library's summer reading program. Here's the gist of it: teens make a 30-90 second video interpreting the summer reading theme "Beneath the Surface" and they could win $275.00. Click on the links for entry form and model release form (for the actors/actresses in the film). Check out these links for rules, video creation resources, and prizes.

Civil War Soldier at the Grand Rapids Library

Life as a Civil War Soldier
Saturday, December 8, 10:00 am

Civil War soldiers had it rough, when they got hungry, they’d dip their worm-infested hardtack into a tin cup of coffee — coffee made by putting stale coffee beans inside a sock that hadn’t been washed for four months and pounding them with the butt end of a musket.
 Dressed as a Union soldier, Arn Kind talks about the Civil War so kids understand the soldiers' experience in this tragic war.
Kind is a member of the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment, an authentic re-enactment group that has appeared in many documentaries and well known feature films.

The Civil War soldier who visited us on November 15th talked about hard tack as one of the rations for soldiers during the Civil War. If you want to try making the authentic version, or some variation of it, there are recipes and instructions at the Wikimedia cookbook and Wikihow and a great description and history and links to other resources in Wikipedia

Try making a batch and bringing it to the upcoming program with the soldier from the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment on December 8th!

Mason Jar Ideas at the Library

50 Gazillion things to do with a Mason Jar!
Tuesday, December 4, 7:00 pm

It's craft night at the library! Come for an idea exchange for ways to use a mason jar. Bring samples of your ideas and leave with inspiration from other's. The famous glass jar with a sealable screw lid can be used for practical or beautiful purposes; for gift-giving or garage. This is a show and tell program with full audience participation

Family Movie Night at the Grand Rapids Library!

Thursday, November 29, 6:00 pm

Join us for another installment in our Family Movie Night Series!  Bring dinner or a snack or a fluffy pillow for the floor, and join us for Arthur Christmas on the big screen in the community room.
          Santa's youngest son Arthur embarks on a magical adventure to deliver the final gift to a child to save Christmas.

Museum Passes Available

We still have a few Museum passes available that are good through November 30 at the Duluth Depot, Great Lakes Aquarium, MN Discovery Center, Judy Garland & Children's Museum and more! Stop in to pick up several if you can use them before next Saturday!
Storyland tickets
We just received tickets available for the Storyland exhibit at the Dutluth Children's Museum valid December 1, 2012 - January 20, 2013. Check the Children's Museum's web site for hours and other current exhibits and programs