Grand Rapids Public Library

Recently a patron called asking if we could identify the location of where a picture was taken. She found a photo on our website that she said was strikingly similar to a photo of her grandparents’ wedding. The people in our photo were not in her photo but the trellis and decorations were all the [...]

Be sure to come to the Main library this evening at 7:00 pm to here Michigan authors Keith Taylor, Anne-Marie Oomen, and Elizabeth Schmuhl read from and discuss their book Ghost Writers. Spirits sometimes appear in order to communicate something important to the living as in Oomen’s “Bitchathane” or to cause characters to look inside [...]

Once again we are teaming up with the Wealthy Theatre and the Meanwhile Movies series. As part of our GR Reads programs we will be showing Michael Moore’s debut documentary “Roger & Me”. Released in 1989, this film documents the effects of the General Motors shutdown and layoffs in Flint. Throughout the film Moore attempts [...]

Anybody watch the big game between the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder last night? And did any of you happen to see what book LeBron James was reading courtside before the game? I’ll give you a hint. It is one of our GR Reads picks. Any guesses? Well, turns out LeBron is also reading [...]

Ok, I have to admit something here. I never heard of World Book Day before but I just learned that April 23 is designated by UNESCO as World Book and Copyright Day. So, why April 23 you say? Well, it turns out that two of the greatest writers to have ever lived both died on [...]

While searching through the manuscript maps in the Archives I recently discovered a map labelled “Plat & Survey of Kidder Farm, 1850.” The first thing that struck me about the map was a sectioned off corner labelled “6 acres Burying ground.” I then noticed writing on the map indicating the “Northwest quarter of Section 29 [...]

Did you know that our archives contain over a million historic photographs? In an effort to make these more accessible and user-friendly we are introducing a new feature of our website: Digital Collections. You may have been familiar with our old online photo collection, but the new digital collections offer a bit more versatility including [...]

Come on up to the fourth floor to see the new exhibit Gridiron’s Golden Era: Early Days of High School Football in Grand Rapids. This exhibit tells the story of Grand Rapids high school football beginning in 1892 and up through the season of 1959 which ended with a play that came to be known [...]

While digging around in the archives today I stumbled on a catalog for the library from 1875 (way before Evergreen!).  The cover reads “(No. 2.) Catalogue of the Public School Library of Grand Rapids, Michigan.”  You may wonder why it’s called the Public School Library.  A free public library for the general public was formed [...]

It’s that time of year (or decade) that list-makers love.  I’ve come across a number of lists for the best books of the year (Publishers Weekly, New York Times, Library Journal, NPR,  Amazon.com) and in each of them I’ve seen a few short story collections.  Many in the publishing world are saying that 2009 was [...]