August 2012

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In This Issue
Director's Letter
Experience Summer
Short Story Contest
What's Your Library Card Worth?
Branches: Stories Rooted in the KDL Community
Photo of the Month: Pet Shows
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KDL Locations


Alpine Township

Alto

Byron Township

Caledonia Township 

Cascade Township

Comstock Park

East Grand Rapids

Englehardt (Lowell) 

Gaines Township

Grandville

Kentwood

Krause Memorial (Rockford)

Plainfield Township

Sand Lake/Nelson Township

Spencer Township

Tyrone Township

Walker

Wyoming & LBPH

Map of all KDL branches

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KDL Kaleidoscope
 

 

Pick up a copy of KDL's signature seasonal event & news publication at your local KDL branch.

 

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Free Downloads @ KDL

 Nook

eBooks, eAudiobooks and music -- download them today at KDL.org.

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Featured Online Resource

    

     
Free, easy way to learn
nearly 50 foreign languages
and 15 ESL courses!
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What's Happening
@ KDL

 

Check our

online event calendar 

for a complete list of events and activities for all ages. Search by branch, age group and more.

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Connect with KDL
 
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From the Director:

KDL's Goal Is Always Excellence  

 

Greetings! 

  

Maybe you've heard about KDL's new quality standards achievement project. I want to tell you what this "multi-year effort to document performance strengths and gaps against national indicators of excellence" means to you.

 

First, it means simply that we want to always be doing better. Our patrons and the library industry have told us we do a great job, and now we're asking a third-party organization, the Michigan Quality Council -- a 19-year-old organization that helps businesses and organizations improve their products and services -- to weigh in.

 

KDL is the first public library in Michigan to engage the MQC's Standards of Excellence review process. Why? Ultimately, the process will address whether we're giving you, the taxpayer, the most for your dollars.

 

The effort will help us answer questions such as, are the materials we're buying and circulating truly what our patrons want? Which of our programs reach the greatest audiences and do they align with our strategic plan -- for instance, to promote early childhood literacy? Are we buying enough eBooks to meet the growing demand?

 

It will also measure whether we are doing all we can to build and maintain an effective team, and that we're training our employees in the areas they need to best be able to serve the public. One recent example was the training of our branch staff to help patrons use and troubleshoot eReader devices. That's a value-added effort to put us ahead of the technology curve, something libraries have done so well for so long.

 

KDL is not the same organization we were 10 years ago, and we won't be the same organization 10 years from now that we are today. In a nutshell, this voluntary effort will let us know whether we're truly, measurably, meeting our goals.

 

These are questions we have always asked, but the MQC effort is a concentrated way to ensure we're always asking the right questions. Having an outside group measure that is a way for us -- and you -- to really, truly know.

 

Lance Werner, Director

Kent District Library

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   Earn Those Badges!
        

 

As part of Summer Reading @ KDL, Kent District Library is offering a new online virtual badge component that is all about completing cool experiences. Experience Summer @ KDL encourages people of all ages to earn virtual badges by doing one of several suggested activities. It's a great way to learn not only through reading, but also through seeing, going and doing! Complete all 10 badges and claim your "Experience Summer @ KDL" certificate! The program ends August 31, so start earning those badges today!

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Are YOU the Next Great Michigan Writer?
Coming Soon: Short Story Contest 
 
Attention writers of all ages: Have you written a short story you think is worthy of publication? Always wanted to but just haven't had the motivation? Get ready to write!
 
Starting in September, KDL is co-sponsoring a short story-writing contest, and the rewards are publication and cash prizes! To aid in your wordsmithery, KDL is offering a free short story-writing workshop with author and Pushcart Prize nominee George Dila at 9:30 AM on September 15 at the East Grand Rapids branch.
 
Watch for the September KDL eNewsletter or see branch posters for details! _________________________________________________________________

What's Your Library Card Worth?

 

Ever wonder what it would cost every month to buy all the materials you borrow from KDL, tap into our research databases, attend our programs and use the free WiFi? Want to find out? 

 

Plug in what's true for you on our Library Use Value Calculator page and get ready to say "No way!!"

 

To which we will reply, "Way, my friend. Way."

 

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Branches stories logoBranches:
Stories Rooted in the KDL Community

 
 
When a new job meant relocating nearly five years ago from a suburban area outside Indianapolis to the Cedar Springs area, the Klee family faced not only the challenge of a new community but adjusting from a large, three-story library branch to their new home's relatively small, rural branches. 

 

What they discovered surprised them, Klee said.


"The minute we walked in, we could tell this was the community gathering place," she said of the Sand Lake/Nelson Township branch.

 

Read the Klee family's story here.

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Photo of the Month
   
Family pets of all stripes were invited to share their love for the library during a pet show in July at the East Grand Rapids branch. Pet shows were held at a number of KDL branches over the summer.

 

KDL Staff Picks: Let us help you find something good to read!  
 

    

Check out our online Staff Picks booklist.
 

 

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