All library locations will be closed Thursday, November 28 and Friday, November 29 for Thanksgiving.
Posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 by Dana
When Shakespeare wrote “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,” it was King Henry IV moaning that people with great responsibility don’t sleep very well. While riches and power don’t seem like much of a problem to me, fictional royalty often has a lot of kingdom-saving and evil battling to do.
So if you’d like to forget your troubles and read about queens and princes and knights with some worthy struggles, take a look at some of these titled titles. Continue reading “Uneasy Lies the Head”
Posted on Wednesday, July 12, 2023 by Megan
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, not Christmas in July and not halfway to Halloween. We’re only about 4 weeks away from our annual cosplay contest. Join us on Monday, August 14 from 6-9 pm at the Columbia Public Library for our first in-person CosPlay Con in 3 years! Dress up as your favorite character, be it superhero, anime, sci-fi or your own original persona. We’ll award prizes for the best costumes and characterization in different age categories, so be ready to show off your cosplay game! Photos and registration will begin at 6 p.m., followed at 6:30 p.m. by a runway show. All ages are welcome!
If you’ve been paying attention we’ve been hosting cosplay programs all year long to help you build your cosplay skills (or costume). Don’t worry if you haven’t attended them all. Below is a quick rundown of all the projects you might have missed. Continue reading “Cosplay @ DBRL”
Posted on Wednesday, June 28, 2023 by Brianna
If I tell you to guess the theme this month, I think you’ll get it without having to try too hard. Enjoy!
“Starlings” by Amanda Linsmeier
Kit just lost her dad unexpectedly, and now she and her grieving mother have been invited to spend Christmas with her paternal grandmother. The problem is that Kit’s dad always claimed his mom was dead. When they arrive in the small town of Rosemont, everything is perfect. Roses bloom all year round, the townspeople are super friendly, there’s a cute boy (and girl!) to crush on, and everyone treats her grandmother Agatha Starling—and Kit by extension—with a deference bordering on reverence. Kit and her mother aren’t planning on staying past the holidays, but everyone else seems to think otherwise. When things start to go wrong, Kit has to discover the truth about the town, and why her father never wanted her to know it existed. With a bisexual main character, nuanced character development and suspenseful plotting, this horror novel has a lot to offer. Continue reading “The Selector’s Selections: June 2023”
Posted on Thursday, June 22, 2023 by Megan
While we can’t guarantee that these crafts will make you happy, who can be blue when you’re crafting with rainbows? Below are some fun, queer crafts you can try at home! Some of these activities are more difficult than others so we have ranked them with rainbows, so the more rainbows the more challenging the craft. Enjoy and happy crafting! Continue reading “Be Happy. Do Crafts.”
Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 by Grae
Warning: This blog contains spoilers for the series “Stranger Things,” plus a lot of fanning/fawning over New Wave/Synth Pop ROYALTY Kate Bush. Proceed with caution and/or get ready to dance your heart out.
It’s been a little over a year since the fourth season of Stranger Things debuted in two installments on Netflix in the early summer of 2022, and tbh I am still processing my feelings. I’ve been an avid watcher of Stranger Things ever since the first episode when Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers pulled her son Will (played by Noah Schnapp) close in his makeshift fort in the woods and endearingly screeched “What about my wiiiiiitch?” The series is famous for its 1980s pop culture nostalgia and homage to the films, television and music of that decade, but more generally I find that the show has just the right amount of heart, horror, humor and hair-raising adventure to keep me binging each season all in one go whenever it’s released. Plus, as someone who has basically wanted to be part of a Scooby gang and/or a Goonie all their life, I really admire how the show both explores and advocates for cross-generational friendships and community building, even in the face of (perhaps especially in the face of) truly gruesome ghouls from alternate dimensions.
But I’ll be honest, season four was rough. Continue reading “If You Like(d) Stranger Things . . .”
Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2023 by Adam
“There is a crack, a crack in everything,
That’s how the light gets in”
-Leonard Cohen, “Anthem”
This quote from a song by one of Lana Del Rey’s favorite singer/songwriters forms a kind of loose manifesto for her new album, “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” – the more cracks and flaws we have, and the more hardships we endure, the more compassionate, wise and humane we are capable of becoming. On her ninth studio album, the artist formerly known as Lizzy Grant is so cracked-open and vulnerable that it’s almost painful to listen to at times. What distinguishes “Ocean Blvd” from the rest of Lana’s catalog is the diaristic immediacy of the songs. Unlike her earlier work, Del Rey said in a recent interview with Billboard Magazine, “there’s no world-building…This music is about thought processing…Now, I just sing exactly what I’m thinking.” And what she’s thinking about on this album, beyond the perennial subject of romantic love, is family, faith, mortality, her troubled past and her uncertain future. Continue reading “Album Review: Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd by Lana Del Rey”
Posted on Tuesday, June 13, 2023 by Dana
Fools in Love – A diverse, inclusive young adult anthology featuring short stories that re-imagine or subvert popular romance and rom-com tropes by some of the biggest authors in YA and has a little something for everyone.
Posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2023 by Nigel Church
This Pride Month we want to connect you with some of the resources that are available in more than just June. Helping hands and human connections are what you’ll find in this list. Continue reading “LGBTQ Resources: Mid-MO and Beyond”
Posted on Thursday, June 1, 2023 by DBRLTeen
Happy Pride Month! We are celebrating, honoring and affirming our transgender folks with a beginners trans booklist. Below are a few books to help you on your journey whether you are questioning yourself or you’re a curious ally. We hope you find this booklist helpful. Our booklist is geared toward teen readers and their caregivers and contains books across multiple age groups. We made this list with love and care! Enjoy! Continue reading “Beginners Guide to Trans Identities”
Posted on Wednesday, May 24, 2023 by Brianna
Last month my theme was books I wouldn’t normally reach for first (meaning anything not fantasy). This time my theme is nonfiction because these three looked so amazing that I couldn’t resist highlighting them. If you find yourself wanting to try more nonfiction but are unsure where to start, these are all excellent options. Continue reading “The Selector’s Selections: May 2023”
