If you just can’t wait for new releases from your favorite fiction authors, good news! The new Best Sellers Club at Rock Island Public Library could help you read those new titles earlier. The new service allows library patrons to sign up for automatic holds on new titles from their favorite adult fiction authors. Signing up is simple, and available to anyone with a valid library card from a PrairieCat member library. You choose the authors you want to follow from the list. When new titles arrive, Rock Island Library staff will place a hold for you. Members will receive a courtesy notice... Read More

Since few things go better with cozy wintertime reading than a hot cup of cocoa, Rock Island Public Library will launch its 2021 Books Like Us Winter Reading Challenge with a Curbside Cocoa Kickoff. The free drive-through event for all ages is offered from 4:00 to 6:00 pm on Friday, January 8 in the Curbside pickup lane outside the Rock Island Downtown Library, 401 19th Street. Participants can meet library staff, and pick up a free winter reading kit with cocoa, goodies, details about winter reading, and other Rock Island Public Library services.  The event is free and no registration is required.... Read More

Holiday and end-of-year holiday closures for Rock Island Public Libraries are as follows: Rock Island Downtown and Southwest Library locations will be closed Thursday, December 24 and Friday, December 25 for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Locations are open from 9:00 am to noon on Saturday, December 26. Rock Island Library locations are closed Thursday, December 31, and Friday, January 1 for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Library locations are open from 9:00 am to noon on Saturday, January 2, 2021. Mobile Library2Go routes run as scheduled Monday, December 21 through Wednesday, December... Read More

For an all-too-brief time along the Western front of World War I, small pockets of peace erupted along the British and German trenches in the first Christmas of the war, as soldiers broke free of the matrix of their nationalistic brainwashing to fight in a war most of them didn’t even understand, and treated each other like actual human beings, putting aside the manipulation of the rich getting them to fight battles between each other in order to increase war profiteering and create a debt circle between the Allies and Germany that ultimately led to the rise of Hitler amidst the poverty of... Read More

Santa is a busy elf, but there’s still time to get on his mailing list with the Rock Island Public Library’s Letter from Santa program. The library is accepting Letters from Santa requests through Friday, December 18. To participate, just fill out a Letters from Santa request form, and leave it in the mailbox provided. Santa will respond by mail with a personalized letter for the child. “Don’t tell, but other than being a fun and free family activity, participating also supports writing and reading literacy,” said Ranell Dennis, Rock Island Public Library Children’s Librarian. Request... Read More

Rock Island Public Library created The Quad City Quarantine Cookbook to document how the community spent time in their home kitchens during the COVID-19 shutdown. Now, this very tasty project is available for checkout, download, or purchase. Reference Librarian Rachel Ippolito first cooked up the special library project this spring, and then invited participation from other libraries in the Quad City Adult Programming Librarians Facebook group. The cookbook features 70 submissions from Illinois and Iowa patrons of the Rock Island, Colona, Cordova, East Moline, Silvis, Bettendorf, Davenport, and... Read More

Rock Island Public Library has changed its policies and procedures to adapt to the changing times with covid. RIPL remains open for Grab and Go, Curbside, and Online services. Only quick browsing, material checkout, returns, and limited-time public computer/WiFi reservations are allowed. Tables, chairs, and extended visits are not available. A maximum of one-hour per person, per day is available for either computer or inside WiFi appointments. All library events continue to be offered virtually or on a take-home method. The Mobile Library continues its routes, but there is no on-board entry. Staff... Read More

All Rock Island Public Libraries will be closed Thursday, November 26 and Friday, November 27 for the Thanksgiving holidays. All locations are open from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm (noon) on Saturday, November 28. Online services and book-drops are open during the holiday break. RIPL remains open for Grab and Go, Curbside, and Online services in compliance with Tier 3 mitigations in the Restore Illinois Plan. Only quick browsing, material checkout, returns, and limited-time public computer/WiFi reservations are allowed. Tables, chairs, and extended visits are not available.  A maximum of one-hour per... Read More

The Rock Island Public Library has created the Quad City Quarantine Cookbook to document how the community spent time in their home kitchens during the Covid-19 shutdown. This very tasty project is available for checkout, download, or purchase. Reference Librarian Rachel Ippolito first cooked up the special library project this spring, and then invited participation from other libraries in the Quad City Adult Programming Librarians Facebook group. The cookbook features 70 submissions from Illinois and Iowa patrons of the Rock Island, Colona, Cordova, East Moline, Silvis, Bettendorf, Davenport,... Read More

The Rock Island Public Library presents Macomb singer-songwriter Chris Vallillo in a special online concert of Oh Freedom! Songs of the Civil Rights Movement at noon on Tuesday, November 10. The concert will be live streamed via Facebook Live on the Rock Island Library and Chris Vallillo Music Facebook pages. The award-winning folk singer will perform pivotal songs that inspired and sustained this landmark movement. From “We Shall Overcome” to “This Little Light of Mine”, music played a vital role in the civil rights movement, both as inspirational rallying points and as a way of spreading... Read More