Grand Rapids Public Library

David Quammen’s Spillover is a great new book to read as flu season heats up. The author looks at how and why zoonotic diseases may transfer from their traditional population to humans. It also gets my vote for “best cover” of 2012. If one compares death statistics, we’re much more likely to die from a small [...]

You’re probably thinking, “What should I read for Taste of Soul Sunday?”.  No?  You were thinking about all the great live music,  food samples, kids activities, and community?  Well, ok– but we are also going to be featuring some great presenters that may get you wanting to delve into their subject, and as always–  whatever [...]

Sometimes objects are believed to resonate with the emotional record of the time that they were created. Actual letters can have a disturbing power to reach out from the past and move us. Art Johnson’s letter to his wife turned up at an estate sale, and our Local History Dept. solved the mystery of what [...]

Our dogs are already excited about Halloween. Nikki wants to be a princess or a circus performer, and Buster wants to go as an undercover dog  (which would not require a costume).  I guess we won’t go door to door (chocolate being poisonous for dogs and all that), but we’re ready. Where did Halloween come [...]

Are you ready?  To elect the next President of the United States of America? It could be the most important thing you’ll do this year, and it’s really quick and easy.  If you have not registered to vote you need to be registered 30 days before the election.  I check every election to see if [...]

Military suicides keep escalating.  The rates  are now way higher than they were during the Vietnam War, which is surprising.  Vietnam vets were stigmatized from every angle, and received little help or support when they returned home.  Iraq and Afghanistan vets have had a much better support system, and have been hailed as heroes and [...]

Woody Guthrie was born on July 14th, 100 years ago today, and there are lots of celebrations planned all over the world. The library has lots of material on Woody: books, movies, music. He lived a hard life, full of tragedy and  contradictions,  and he left an amazing legacy of songs for future generations.  I’ve [...]

I love biographies, and plenty of people have much more interesting lives than me, so there’s lots of possibilities to choose from.  I often feel I should be reading one of David McCullough’s excellent works, but tend to drift over to something less daunting. Especially in the summer… Rossi’s memoir is really unusual; a Little [...]

Father’s Day at our house is celebrated by my husband, roaring off with his cousin to an all-day car show event.    Many countries celebrate Father’s Day in unique ways.    At our house, the dogs always present an elaborate card and gift.   The library has a large selection of books for, by, and about [...]

It’s affecting to walk through Grand Rapids’ Veteran’s Memorial Park and read the inscriptions on each of the monuments.  It got me to thinking of how little I know about all the wars our country has fought in.  With a stretch of Quaker schools behind me, I thought when I was younger that if people  [...]