Love My Library Essay Contest

The Cedar Rapids Public Library is holding an essay contest in anticipation of the new library groundbreaking celebration on May 5. The essay contest, entitled “Love my Library” is open to all 6 – 12 grade students in the Cedar Rapids metro area.

Students are asked to write an essay about what the Cedar Rapids Public Library means to them and why they love their library.

Essays should be 300 words or less. Submissions may be sent to the Library at 2600 Edgewood Rd. SW, Suite 330, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52404; or emailed to info@crlibrary.org, no later than 5:00 pm on Wednesday, April 25.  Submissions must include: name, age, grade, email address (if you have one), and phone number.

The winner will receive a Nook Color e-reader and will be asked to read their essay at the new library groundbreaking celebration in May. Runners up will also receive special recognition during the groundbreaking ceremony as well as a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

Groundbreaking for the new Cedar Rapids Public Library is Saturday, May 5, 10 am – 12 pm. A brief program will be held at 10 am followed by refreshments and activities for the whole family. The community is invited to participate in this special event.

The Love My Library Essay Contest is sponsored by the Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation.

The Hunger Games

Are you excited about the Hunger Games movie out tomorrow at midnight?  I was a little skeptical at first, but everytime I see the trailer for it I get goosebumps!  Whether you are Team Katniss or not, we are having a Hunger Games Challenge tomorrow, Thursday March 22nd during our Read. Write. Talk. program.  From 5:30-7:00 p.m. in the Sendak room, participants will go head to head in physical, cornucopia, and trivia challenges.

All contestants will get a bonus prize for participating, plus the chance to win BIG – movie tickets for the midnight showing or a set of the series by Suzanne Collins.  Hope to see you on Thursday night for some fun times at the library!

Clay Contest Winners!

Last night we had our first ever clay contest for Anime Club.  The results were AMAZING and it was great to see how creative our Anime Club can get.  Here are our winners, and you can find the rest of the photos from last night on our Facebook page.

Winner:  Tiniest Creation

Tiny panda + leek

Winner:  Best Anime

Gaaru from Naruto

Winner: Overall (which kind of meant everything else)

Link from Zelda

On a slightly un-related note, I was looking at the Anime Characters Database, which lets you search for Anime characters by gender, hair color, hair length, animal ears, and MORE.  I’m thinking we need a search like this for the library – especially for the questions like, “I’m looking for a book with a RED cover that is about THIS <——–> big with a dragon on the cover.”

Anime Club + Contest + New Manga ^_^

Join us on Tuesday, Dec. 20th from 5:30-7:30 at the Westdale Library for our monthly Anime Club!  All 6th-12th graders are welcome to stop by, eat Ramen noodles, watch Anime, and participate in our first ever clay creation contest.  The group will vote on the winners, and we have Viz Media tote bags and CRPL water bottles as prizes.   In September, we recorded a video of the club dancing and you can find that video on our Facebook page here.

In other Anime related news, we have been getting some new titles in, thanks to some help from Teen Advisory Group member Tanner!  I’ve included a few below – but they are flying off the shelf, so get in line for these by logging into your account on our catalog.

Maoh:  Juvenile Remix

Inukai and his team of vigilantes protect the citizens of Nekota from a rising crime wave and the greed of businessmen looking to modernize the city into a strip mall, but high school student Ando suspects Inukai’s motives.

Fairy Tail

Seventeen-year-old Lucy, mage-in-training, seeks to join a magicians guild and become a full-fledged magician. Her dream lies in the most famous guild in the worldFairy Tale. One day Lucy encounters Natsu, a boy raised by a Dragon who mysteriously abandoned him when he was young. Natsu has devoted his life to finding his Dragon father. When he helps Lucy out of a tricky situation, she discovers that he is a member of the Fairy Tail magicians guild, and our heroes adventure together begins.

Monster Hunter Orage

Shiki is on a mission to hunt down a legendary monster with his companion Ailee, a skilled huntress who would rather have nothing to do with the airheaded Shiki.

Vote for Movies for Mini Marathon!

On Sunday, October 30th the Cedar Rapids Public Library at Westdale will be hosting a  Mini-Movie Marathon in the Sendak Room.  Costumes are encouraged and there will be plenty of snacks, with door prizes drawn throughout the day.  Open to 6th grade up through adult!  The first movie will start at 1:15 and we will continue to watch until around 4:30.  Our handy Teen Advisory Group members suggested a few titles, and I’ve thrown some random ones in the mix.  Click on the images below to learn more about the films.  The top title will be shown first, and the runner up will go on after.  Winners will be announced on October 20th.   Don’t see anything you like on the list?  Vote for your own suggestion!

9 more days…

…until the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 comes to the big screen and it all ends!  As part of our Teen Summer Reading Program, stop by between today and the 12th of July and get entered to win a pair of tickets to the midnight screening at the Wynnsong Cinemas on Edgewood Road.  There will be an entry box at the Summer Reading Table.  Can’t make it into the library?  Fill out the form below to be entered to win!  Contest is open to all 6th-12th graders in the Cedar Rapids area, and the winner will be notified on July 12th! CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.  CONGRATS TO JESSE, OUR WINNER!

P.S. Have you heard about Pottermore yet? What do you think?