Upcoming Events
Events List Navigation
Animal Magic
Mark Rosenthal uses music to introduce his amazing animal ambassadors! He plays music clips and shares little known facts about each animal. His unique blend of exotic animals, life sciences, and magic makes this a highly entertaining and educational show. Mark was even voted Nickelodeon's Michigan Entertainer of the Year!
Find out more »Zine Making Workshop
Teens ages 11-18 can discover zines, an easy and accessible way to share ideas, comics, stories, news and more. Learn tips for making comics, zine fabrication, and character design from a published local illustrator.
Find out more »Code Camp: Build a Business with Junior Achievement
Want to learn to build your own app? Come join Junior Achievement at the Grand Rapids Public Library for Code Camp, a JA Company Program. The camp is a 10-week session on how to solve a problem in the community by launching your own start-up business app. Unleash your creative entrepreneurial spirit and start building career skills for a high school job,vocational job, or college resume. This camp is for middle and high school students. Register at www.grpl.org/register. Limited drop-in…
Find out more »An Evening with Stephen Mack Jones
Michigan Notable Book author, Stephen Mack Jones will discuss his first novel, August Snow, and his experience of writing in many different genres: poetry, plays, and novels. A book signing will follow the presentation.
Find out more »Mindstorm Saturdays
Kids ages 10 and up can explore robotics every Saturday at the library. Using Lego Mindstorms EV3 kits, these hands-on robotics teach essential coding skills, problem solving, and more. This is a self-guided, drop-in event.
Find out more »Baby Time
Parents and caregivers are invited to introduce their babies, birth through 18 months, to music, movement, and language in these 30-minute classes designed just for their specific developmental stages. Babies will enjoy hearing a story and learning songs and rhymes. Playtime after enhances the development of social skills.
Find out more »Pajama Time!
Get cozy in your pajamas, grab your favorite stuffed animal or blanket, and come to the library for a special bedtime event. Listen to stories, sing songs, and get those wiggles out before bed. Great for working parents!
Find out more »Kevin Kammeraad & Friends
Join Kevin Kammeraad and Friends in this interactive, all-ages program of poetry, puppetry, music, and movement. Together we'll create and write, sign and dance, and be inspired to keep on creating long after the show.
Find out more »Great Lakes Anishinaabek Storytelling
Storytelling has a high position in the culture of the Anishinaabek. These tales and legends have within them lessons and history capable of touching the hearts and minds of all who come to listen. Storyteller and educator Victoria Voges from the Nokomis Learning Center will share traditional stories and wisdom handed down through the generations. The Nokomis Native American Cultural Learning Center is dedicated to the preservation and presentation of the history, arts, and culture of the Anishinaabe people—the Ojibwe,…
Find out more »Bug’s Eye View
Come experience the world of arthropods! Engage your inner entomologist as we explore the lifecycle of a cecropia moth, investigate live insects, and buzz around like pollinators. This fun and interactive workshop will show your young scientist how insects are unique in the animal kingdom. This family-friendly event lasts 50 minutes. Space is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Find out more »Read Like a Rock Star Greatest Hits Magic Show
Be amazed by this high energy, interactive magic show! Magician Jeff performs grand illusion tricks to make you ooh and aah and inspire you to read like a rock star.
Find out more »The Amazing Honey Bee
Be amazed at the life of the honey bee. Learn how bees make honey and how it is harvested. Discover the three types of bees in a hive and their respective roles. View live bees in an observation hive. Participate in a question and answer session with an experienced beekeeper and much more in a fun, fast paced presentation that is entertaining and educational. After, teens ages 11-18 can examine live bees in an observation hive, taste honey, and craft…
Find out more »Buenas Ondas: Runaway Poetry Showcase
The Runaway Poetry Club will perform their own spoken word poetry, rap, and other musical talents. There will be limited spots available for performances from the public. Following the showcase, there will be a poetry competition for young poets ages 15 to 20. Poets should prepare two poems no longer than 3 minutes to be evaluated by the local judges. Sign up at @runaway_poetry on Instagram by June 16.
Find out more »Culture Kingdom Live with Culture Queen
With just a spoonful of magic and ancient wisdom, Culture Queen helps you discover your own royalty and connect with your culture through self-affirming songs, rich storytelling, and body-positive dance. Bright melodies and uplifting lyrics will have you and your royal children cutting a rug and boogieing down as you proudly proclaim, "I like the me I see!"
Find out more »Lost to Time: 20 Detroiters You’ve Never Heard Of
Introducing 20 Detroiters whose names have been lost to time. When they were alive, everyone in town knew their name. They were heroes and geniuses, teachers and merchants, drunks and scoundrels. Each played a notable role that was recognized locally, nationally, and even around the world. Yet today, most Detroiters don't know of their fame. Join Joel Stone, senior curator of the Detroit Historical Society, to learn more about the unknown Who's Who of Detroit's 300 year history.
Find out more »Robotics Petting Zoo
Artificial intelligence and robots used to be the stuff of science fiction. But not anymore. Every year, new devices come into our lives that can automate many of our everyday tasks. Stop by to see robots perform complex and surprising tasks. FIRST robotics clubs from around West Michigan will present their robots, sharing their knowledge and offering insight into how the robots were designed and built. Great for the whole family.
Find out more »Reginald Pettibone’s Native American Dance and Cultural Program
Champion Powwow dancer and Native American from the Ho-Chunk Nation, Reg Pettibone presents a unique program that introduces you to this nation's cultural past in a whole new way. Along with his wife Marca, from the Paiute Nation, Reg draws on his traditional upbringing to provide a better understanding of true Native American culture through dance, song, stories, and more!
Find out more »Michigan Native Plants in Your Home Landscape
Learn how to transform your landscape into a beautiful haven using native Michigan plants. Give our pollinators room to grow, feed and reproduce while developing a sense of place specific to West Michigan. Discover the native plants of Michigan and bring home a native seed activity.
Find out more »Surviving College Culture Shock
Are you a first year college student? A Grand Rapids Public School graduate getting ready to move on campus? Perhaps you are heading to a college in a different state? Maybe you are nervous about balancing academics and life at home? Come hear current students share the tips and tools they used to help navigate the college cultural shift. This panel is a part of T2C Studio’s College Bootcamp Event, an event that is designed to help students and parents…
Find out more »Bubbleman Ron
Bubbleman Ron uses an ordinary soap bubble solution to create square bubbles, merry-go-round bubbles, bubbles inside of bubbles inside of bubbles, tornado bubbles, and much more! Join us for this entertaining blend of science and fun!
Find out more »Writing Workshop with Shani Womack
Flint native Shani Womack brings her love of community and storytelling in this writing workshop for teens ages 11-18. She will show the importance of storytelling and how people from all walks of life can find ways to share their stories.
Find out more »Falcons and Chimney Swifts: An Urban Birdwalk
Join the Grand Rapids Audubon Club for a walk around downtown to see birds that have found ways to thrive in heavily populated areas. We will be on the lookout for Chimney Swifts, which have learned how to roost in home's chimneys and large smoke stacks, and Peregrine Falcons, that were introduced years ago atop McKay Tower, as a way to control the pigeon population. Wear good walking shoes for this 90-minute walk. Rain Date: August 6
Find out more »Summer Reading Celebration
Join us for a fun celebration at your favorite GRPL location! Enjoy crafts and refreshments, and be sure to pick up your finisher swag bag and t-shirt.
Find out more »Genealogy Lock-In
Come to the Grand Rapids History and Special Collections Department for a free after-hours program just for genealogists. Learn how to use the library databases, newspaper microfilm and other resources, and take advantage of free copying and printing during the event. Bring your family history questions or problems—volunteers from the Western Michigan Genealogical Society will be on hand to assist. Network with other genealogists—you never know what you might find. Registration required: www.grpl.org/register or call 616-988-5400.
Find out more »Introduction to Zentangle
Come discover the wonderful benefits of the Zentangle® Drawing Method! The Zentangle Method is a fun, relaxing and easy-to-learn way of creating beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. Taught by Amy Kam of the peaceful pen, learn the techniques and basic steps of creating a Zentangle work of art. Discover the gift of relaxation, expanded awareness, enhanced focus, new techniques for problem-solving and uncover new ways to see beauty or embrace the unexpected. No art experience is necessary and beginners…
Find out more »Beyond Her Grave Bicycle Tour: The Legacies of Women Buried in Fulton Street and Oakhill Cemeteries
She Rides Her Own Way and the Greater Grand Rapids Women's History Council will host a one-of-a-kind bicycle cemetery tour highlighting notable women of the past. Leaving from the Main Library, the tour will stop at Fulton Street Cemetery, the city's oldest public burial ground. It will then proceed to Oakhill Cemetery, filled with architectural treasures. Learn about the historic women who shaped the Grand Rapids community as you visit their final resting place. Rain date - Tuesday, August 21, 2018,…
Find out more »Resiliency and Perseverance: An Evening with Pastor Troy Evans
Pastor Troy Evans started out a lot like Robert Peace—a young black man growing up in the inner city. He lived in a rough neighborhood and was drawn to gang life at an early age. But where Peace's story ends in tragedy, Pastor Troy was able to turn his circumstances around and create a thriving life and unique ministry that touches the lives of young people just like him. Join us for a conversation centered around resiliency and perseverance and…
Find out more »Protecting and Restoring the Great Lakes
Emily Finnell, Chief Strategist of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes, will share past and ongoing efforts to protect and restore our Great Lakes. She coordinated the development and implementation of the Michigan Water Strategy, a 30-year plan that focuses on healthy ecosystems, enhancing the use and enjoyment of Michigan's water resources, and growing stewardship. Learn about the initiatives and policies around the Great Lakes. A question and answer period will follow the presentation.
Find out more »