The Atrium

Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King, died last night. She was 78 years old. Mrs. King was at her husbands side for 15 years. After his assassination Mrs. King helped carry on his message of non-violence and civil rights for all Americans. Mrs. King was instrumental in opening the King Center in Atlanta. She was also a key proponent in making Marin Luther King Day a national holiday as well.

You can learn more about Coretta Scott King through the articles on our Biography Resource Center or you could try the following books Coretta Scott King by Lisa Rhodes, or Coretta Scott King : keeper of the dream by Sondra Henry

Posted by Martin at 08:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

NetLibrary & Recorded Books eAudiobooks service is now available for Grand Rapids Public Library patrons! Over 1000 unabridged audiobooks are available--fiction and nonfiction titles, latest best-sellers, book club favorites, award winning authors, classics, and more. More new eAudiobook titles are added to the collection each month. Set up a free account, then download to your personal computer to listen on your computer's player, your MP3 music player, your Pocket PC, or even select smartphone devices!

Posted by Martin at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's that time again!

The Grand Rapids Public Library offers paper copies of the most popular federal tax forms. A binder of reproducible forms is available to photocopy other necessary forms.

One hour of free internet service per day is also available at the library, so you can also download the federal forms you need by going to the IRS website, or you can get state forms at the Michigan Treasury website. Both photocopies and computer printouts are $.25/page. The library also offers Grand Rapids city income tax forms for city residents and non-residents.

Still need to know more?

• For Federal Forms call 1-800-829-1040, or go to the local IRS office at 678 Front Ave. N.W Grand Rapids
• For State Forms call (517) 373-3200, or go to the local Michigan Treasury office at 350 Ottawa Ave N.W. Grand Rapids

Posted by Martin at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Govenor Granholm gave her State of the State Address last night. If you are interested in State politics there are so many different avenues to explore. You might want to look at our links about state government. Or, you could visit the different websites of the state Democratic or Republican parties.

Of course there are always the books, one in particular entitled
Off the Record by Tim Skubick. It chronicles the last thirty years of that reporters experiences in Michigan politics.

Posted by Martin at 06:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There has been a lot of talk about Garfield Park and the Salvation Army in the news these days. The city of Grand Rapids maintains a site called Community Information on the Proposed Kroc Center at Garfield Park giving information on the reasons for the Community Center in the park. For more information on the Garfield Park neighborhood I would try the City of Grand Rapids Neighborhood Associations page.

Related to this you might want to try Fox in the Henhouse : How privatization threatens democracy

On the other side of the coin I would read Designing comprehensive privatization programs for cities by John Stainback

Posted by Martin at 08:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today the Newbery and Caldecott Award winners were announced. The winner of the Newbery Award is a resident from Michigan! She is Lynne Rae Perkins and she won for the book Criss Cross. Ms. Perkins lives up in the Traverse Bay area. The Newbery Award is handed out annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

The Caldecott Medal went to Chris Raschka for the book The Hello, Goodbye Window The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

Posted by Martin at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Michigan Notable Books list came out the other day from the Library of Michigan. I have not read all of the entries, but one in my mind stands out. It is Please Don’t Come Back From the Moon by Dean Bakopoulos. Definitely one to put on hold.

Posted by Martin at 04:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the Saturday Grand Rapids Press an article Pitch to sell state parks stirs Lansing reported on an idea to privatize 14 of Michigan's state parks. The plan comes from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy

If you want to learn more about Michigans state parks visit Michigan Department of Natural Resources

You could also try the book Michigan state parks : yesterday through tomorrow

Posted by Martin at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the next week or so both the Grand Rapids Art Museum and the Public Museum of Grand Rapids are opening two new exhibits. At the Art Museum the exhibit is entitled Fashion in Film: Period Costumes. It opens January 27th and runs through March 26th. At the Public Museum the exhibit is called Treasures of Ancient Egypt. This exhibit starts January 28th.

If you are looking for materials on fashion in film you might want to try Hollywood and history : costume design in film by Edward Maeder

If Ancient Egypt grabs you try Treasures of the pharaohs by Delia Pemberton

Posted by Martin at 09:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Interesting article in yesterdays Grand Rapids Press entitled Seminar helps nuture immigrants business savvy. In it it talks about a seminar at the African Center of Michigan which helps African immigrants acquire the skills in being a small business owner. Beyond this seminar there are some interesting websites and books to help you acquire the very same skills, I will give you just a sample.

SBA Link for the Small Business Administration

MI-SBTDC Link for the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center

GRPL Small Business Links A collection of Small Business websites on the Librarys website

101 small business ideas for under $5,000 A new book here at Grand Rapids Main, the title says it all

Business plans that work : a guide for small business A guide to help you firm up your idea

Posted by Martin at 09:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On PBS last night there was show on called The War that Made America. It was the first part in a series on the French and Indian War, or otherwise known as the Seven Years War. The episode last night examined the part that the young George Washington played in the start of what has been called the first world war. It also aptly portrayed the importance of the Native American allies of both the British and the French. If you wish to read a rivetting account of this period of time I would recommend the Crucible of war : the Seven Years' War and the fate of empire in British North America, 1754-1766 by Fred Anderson

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