Local media items about Kalamazoo Public Library, library related events and services.
2013 | 2012 | 2011
May 13, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI -- A free program hosted by the Kalamazoo Public Library's Eastwood Branch will include a chance for children to get up close and personal with the world's tallest dog. Doggone Fun! from 6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.Tuesday, May 14, is free at the Eastwood Branch Library, 1112 Gayle St. Children will be able to visit with Zeus, a Great Dane, who was declared the world's tallest dog by the Guinness World Records. Zeus's owners live in Otsego. more...
May 7, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI – It's up to Kalamazoo beer-lovers to coin the city as the next BeerCity, USA destination. The official Beer City USA poll went live Monday and craft beer buffs gathered at Bell's Brewery on Monday night to get out the vote. In addition to Kalamazoo, 21 other cities across the country are vying for the title. A mitten-state rivalry is also brewing as Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids are the other cities in Michigan seeking the title. The poll's comment section has also prompted spirited debate among beer aficionados in the three cities. more...
April 29, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI -- A Kalamazoo Public Schools program that mails books over the summer to incoming sixth- and fifth-graders is being expanded to incoming fourth-graders. Under the program, students are given a list of books and allowed to choose seven titles. Kids also get an eighth book chosen by the district for all kids in that grade. A book is mailed out to each student every 10 days. more...
April 16, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI -- As Mick Jagger, joint in hand, greeted him in the doorway of a penthouse suite of the Westwood Marquis Hotel in Los Angeles, Vic Robinson had no clue why he was there. Jagger had one question for 5-foot-11 former weightlifter turned bouncer. "Have you ever been to jail?" Jagger asked Robinson. Kalamazoo middle school football and track coach Vic Robinson to hold release parties for book about his time as a bodyguard for some of rock's biggest names. more...
April 4, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Event promoter and middle school coach Vic Robinson, of Kalamazoo, will release a new book detailing his time as a bodyguard and personal trainer for major rock bands, including The Rolling Stones and Twisted Sister. He will hold a series of book release events, including from noon to 1:30 p.m. April 20 at the Mendon Township Library and 6-7 p.m. May 2 at the Kalamazoo Public Library. more...
March 31, 2013
Brooke Gladstone says the title of her book The Influencing Machine really means the opposite of what she’s saying. The host of the NPR program On the Media says people think of the media as something that influences them, but she says the media really does its best to appeal to its audience rather than to manipulate. Gladstone will speak at Western Michigan University Tuesday night at 7:00 in Knauss Hall. WMUK is one of the event's sponsors. more...
March 23, 2013
KALAMAZOO—Journalist, media analyst and author Brooke Gladstone, host of the National Public Radio magazine "On the Media," will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, in 2452 Knauss Hall at Western Michigan University as part of the Kalamazoo Public Library's Reading Together 2013 activities. more...
March 27, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Many schools in Kalamazoo County and around Southwest Michigan will start April on spring break, with some getting an early start this Friday. For parents who aren't heading south and are looking for other options for their kids, here are some activities to consider, from movies to day camps. more...
March 19, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI – National Public Radio's Brooke Gladstone will be speaking April 2 at Western Michigan University as part of the Kalamazoo Public Library's 2013 Reading Together Program. The cohost and managing editor of NPR's “On the Media,” will discuss her experiences as a journalist and her bestselling 2012 book, “The Influencing Machine.” The graphic novel, with illustrations by Josh Neufeld, looks at the history of media and how people interact with it. more...
March 11, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI -- In fall 2008, 29 percent of fourth-graders in Kalamazoo Public Schools scored in the bottom tier on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program reading test. ...KPS has adopted a list of reforms since 2008 aimed specifically at boosting fundamental literacy skills... Started field trips to the Kalamazoo Public Library for all first-grade classes and signing up each student for a library card. more...
March 10, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Seven years after the launch of The Kalamazoo Promise, Kalamazoo Public Schools remains a high-poverty, majority-minority district with academic outcomes consistently below the state average. But KPS is beginning to move the needle on student achievement... There also have been a host of smaller-scale projects, such as field trips to the Kalamazoo Public Library for every first-grade class so that every student gets a library card and a summer reading project where KPS students entering sixth-grade get to pick out eight novels to read over the summer break. more...
March 8, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Author Amy Waldman, whose debut novel "The Submission," was chosen as the Kalamazoo Public Library's selection for its 2013 Reading Together program, as well as for the MLive Book Club, stopped by the Kalamazoo Gazette's hub Wednesday evening for a live chat. more...
March 6, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Despite snowy roads, about 300 Kalamazoo-area residents turned out Tuesday night to hear Amy Waldman talk about her debut novel, "The Submission." The Kalamazoo Public Library chose the acclaimed 2011 novel as for the 2013 Reading Together program. Among other accolades, "The Submission" was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book of the year, one of NPR's 10 best novels and Entertainment Weekly's No 1. novel of the year. more...
March 5, 2013
Reading Together: Amy Waldman, the 2013 Kalamazoo Public Library Reading Together author, will speak tonight at the Kalamazoo Central High School Auditorium at 2432 N. Drake Road at 7 p.m. The former New York Times reporter's first novel "The Submission" was picked for the Reading Together program. The book, Yvonne Zipp reports, is "about a controversy that erupts when a Muslim-American wins a memorial competition – when a controversy erupted over plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero in 2010." The book was also the February pick for the MLive Book Club. more...
March 4, 2013
In 2011, Amy Waldman’s debut novel The Submission, made its way onto numerous “best” lists. Esquire Magazine named it the book of the year, and NPR called it one of the year’s top ten. Since then, The Submission has been part of many communities’ reading programs, and is now the Kalamazoo Public Library’s Reading Together selection. more...
February 27, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI – Lots of novelists get ideas from newspaper headlines. Amy Waldman was writing years ahead of them. The former New York Times reporter had already completed the draft of her first novel, "The Submission," about a controversy that erupts when a Muslim-American wins a memorial competition – when a controversy erupted over plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero in 2010. more...
February 25, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI -- The 10th annual Kalamazoo Teen Filmmaker Festival was held Sunday at the Kalamazoo State Theatre. Twenty-eight films from teenagers, mostly from the Kalamazoo area, were submitted for the annual showcase. The events was MC'd by Kevin Park, the president of Campaign Pictures and the writer/director/producer of several locally-produced films, and juried by three judges: James Sanford, the former Kalamazoo Gazette film reviewer who is now an arts and culture writer at the Battle Creek Enquirer, as well as a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society; Selam Ghirmai, a promotional agent at the Michigan Film Office and liaison for the Michigan Film and Digital Media Incentive Program; Zach Terry, a director and film student who won People's Choice, Judge's Choice and Best Film at the festival from 2007-2011. more...
February 20, 2013
Psst: You wanna see 28 free movies? I’ve got a deal for you. Get a seat for the 10th annual Kalamazoo Teen Filmmaker Festival, which will be held at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the State Theatre. The movies were made by local directors between the ages of 13 and 18. The selections cover an impressive range of topics, from a soldier’s battle with post-traumatic stress disorder to a doctor with a sick sense of humor to a lonely sock monkey searching for the girl who once adored him. more...
February 19, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI -- There is no shortage of young, local filmmakers willing to push the boundaries of the medium and catch an audience off-guard. Stewart Fritz, the Lead Librarian for Teen Services at the Kalamazoo Public Library and the organizer of the 10th annual Teen Filmmaker Festival, saw the evidence first-hand as he, and other organizers, viewed around 125 films over three days from directors ages 13 to 18. more...
February 15, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI – After finding bed bugs at two of its locations this week, the Kalamazoo Public Library will begin having routine inspections and strictly reinforce its rules about what people are allowed to carry into the library. more...
February 15, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI - Beg bugs have been located in the Children's Room of the Kalamazoo Public Library on Rose Street. The pests were discovered after the library ordered all library branches be inspected as a result of Kalamazoo Public Library's Washington Square Branch closing last week when bed bugs were found hiding in the bindings of returned books. more...
February 15, 2013
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Some unwanted guests turned up at a local library last week. Bed bugs were discovered on Friday at the Washington Square Library in Kalamazoo, which remained closed on Tuesday, as crews attempted to clear the problem. The insects were found inside some books that were returned. A worker put the books in plastic bags and destroyed them, but the library remains shut down as a precaution. more...
February 12, 2013
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) - Though a Tuesday morning search didn't reveal any live bugs in the Kalamazoo Public School Library's Washington Square branch, it did reveal some dead bed bugs. Monday, library spokesperson Farrell Howe confirmed to 24 Hour News 8 that a couple of books returned through the Washington Square branch's drop box contained bed bugs. They were quarantined -- sealed up in plastic bags -- and then destroyed. more...
February 11, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI - Bed bugs hiding in book bindings have caused Kalamazoo Public Library's Washington Square Branch to close on Monday. "We received a couple of books in the drop box and during a routine inspection, bed bugs were found," said Farrell Howe, a library spokesperson. "They were quarantined in plastic bags and destroyed and we are having an inspection take place." more...
February 1, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI -- What would happen if a jury chose an anonymous submission by a Muslim-American to commemorate the site of a ground-zero-like attack? That's the premise of Amy Waldman's 2011 novel, "The Submission," which is the 2013 Reading Together title chosen by the Kalamazoo Public Library. more...
February 2013
One of the most important things to know about Kalamazoo’s annual Teen Filmmaker Festival is that it’s not just for teens. While teenagers are the ones eligible to submit films, adults too can enjoy viewing the chosen entries. The festival, which began in 2004, is packed each year with talent, creativity and craftsmanship — and, at times, some really funny films. more...
January 31, 2013
This is a follow-up…a list of active libraries that provide great content on Facebook. They are quick to respond to people’s comments and questions, and the public is utilizing their Facebook pages. If you are trying to learn about what leading libraries are doing, check out the following 100 Facebook pages. more...
January 11, 2013
This is a list of active libraries that provide great content on Twitter. They are quick to respond to people’s comments and questions, and their presence is felt around the Twitter library world. If you are trying to learn about what leading libraries are doing, check out the following 100 Twitter handles. more...
January 9, 2013
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Friday will the last day on the job for Marti Fritz, who is retiring after 17 years as marketing and communications director for the Kalamazoo Public Library. Fritz, 63, noted that she started with the library around the time voters approved a tax increase to overhaul the system's five facilities, including a $13 million renovation of the downtown library in 1997-98. more...
January 3, 2013
VICKSBURG, MI – A Saginaw area native is the new director of the Vicksburg District Library. John Sheridan replaces Diane Randall, who had been head of the Vicksburg library for two years and recently was named director of the LaGrange, Ind. Public Library. Randall grew up in Indiana, got her library start in that state and still has family there. She had worked for several years with the Kalamazoo Public Library. more...