Grayslake Library Blog

  Protect Your Piggy Bank! Confused about Medicare Supplement Insurance? Are you concerned about the financial stability of banks? Want to shore up your personal finances? Let Weiss Financial Ratings help! Weiss Financial Ratings is a FREE resource with your Grayslake library card. Search the best-performing investments, get insurance information, evaluate stocks and mutual funds, find financially secure banks and insurance companies, and check out personal finance how-to guides to get you started in the right direction. Start searching in the Weiss Financial Ratings database so you can start protecting your piggy bank!

Learn at Your Own Pace! Have you ever thought about taking an instructor-led online class for personal or professional development, but the timing didn’t work out, or the cost was just too high? Look no further than Gale Courses, which you can access with your Grayslake library card at your convenience, 24/7, for FREE! Gale Courses offers hundreds of highly interactive online courses taught by college instructors covering various topics, and some classes can even lead to certification . There are classes on designing effective websites, introduction to criminal law, writing a fantasy novel, learning Microsoft Excel, becoming a veterinary assistant, and so much more. Any of these courses would normally cost $100 or more, but with your GAPL card, they are all available to you for free!

  Color of the Year: Viva Magenta Vibrant colors have the ability to evoke wonder, deep emotion, and completely capture our attention. In the world of design, the influencer of color trends, and the leading color matching brand is Pantone. Pantone is a renowned color company that is a pioneer in the way we communicate and identify colors which affects all industries from fashion and graphic design to production development. Annually, Pantone chooses a Color of the Year; for 2023 it’s Viva Magenta!  Viva Magenta is a strong shade of pink with a pop of purple mixed together, perfect for the bold and creative person who seeks to express their individuality at all times. This is a confident color that captured our attention immediately and we thought, how can we use this? By finding Viva Magenta book covers and igniting the urge to read them all!  We hope you’ll like our list:  The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang The Vibrant Years by Sonali Dev Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave Just Anothe

  Get Active with Active Screen Time! Kids can learn many things online these days; from math and science to English and history, many subjects have age-appropriate courses and lessons available at your fingertips. So why should physical education be any different? We are happy to announce that your Grayslake library card now grants you and your children access to a new research and learning tool: Hiveclass . Hiveclass believes in “active screen time” and is a platform designed to teach kids and teens the fundamentals of different sports, from soccer to pickleball and other physical activities, such as yoga and self-defense. There are dozens of courses available, divided into multiple video lessons (about 2-3 minutes each), with expert instruction and helpful visual aids, followed by a short quiz to test the student’s knowledge of what they learned. This is the first of three new research and learning tools we’ll discuss on the blog; stay tuned for the next one!

  September 15 to October 15 marks the yearly observance of Hispanic Heritage Month, a time to reflect on the lives and contributions of Hispanic and Latinx figures in our world’s history. Peruvian-American children’s book author Monica Brown has written a number of biographies introducing young readers to key figures in history, from artists to sports stars. Below is a selection of her books. My Name is Celia Celia Cruz first became a well-known singer in her homeland of Cuba before moving to the United States and helping to create a new type of music called salsa. Tito Puente: Mambo King Tito Puente loved banging pots and pans as a child, dreaming of one day having his own band. He would grow up to have his dream realized, becoming the “King of Mambo.” Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos Frida Kahlo was a fascinating artist who brought attention to Mexican and indigenous culture. This is the story of her many beloved pets, playfully considering how she embodied the characteristics of each