Professor and historian Dr. Art Pitz will discuss the tumultuous history of the Middle East in his presentation, The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History in Four Parts. The first two lectures (Aug. 2 and 9) will be held at the Rock Island Main Library. The August 16 and 23 presentations are at the Moline Public Library, 3210 41^st Street, Moline IL.

Moline Library: 309-524-2440

Professor and historian Dr. Art Pitz will discuss the tumultuous history of the Middle East in his presentation, The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History in Four Parts. The first two lectures (Aug. 2 and 9) will be held at the Rock Island Main Library.The August 16 and 23 presentations are at the Moline Public Library, 3210 41^st Street, Moline IL.

Part 1: Late 19^th Century to WWI - Monday, August 2, Rock Island Main Library, 6 p.m.

The Rock Island Library's 2010 Black History and Civil Rights series concludes August 25, with a 6 p.m. showing and discussion of the American Experience program, "The Murder of Emmett Till." The brutal murder of the 14-year-old-boy in Money, Mississippi sparked civil rights action across the country. Three months after his body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River, the Montgomery bus boycott began. August 28 marks the 55th anniversary of Till's death.

This event in the Main Library Community Room, 401 19th Street, is held in conjunction with the Afro-American Heritage Center as part of a continuing look at family stories and civil rights.

Please note that some scenes in the documentary may disturb younger or more sensitive viewers.

NIABI ZOO

Find out what slinks and slithers at the zoo!

June 16th, 11am, Southwest Branch

NIABI ZOO

Find out what slinks and slithers at the zoo!

June 8th, 11am, Main Library 

Ghosts in the Library?

Main Library

401 19th St

2nd Floor Community Room

Ages 12 and up

The Rock Island Paranormal Group investigated the Rock Island Library for abnormal activity.  Come learn what they found!

Family Homecoming: A Juneteenth Event

5 p.m. to 7:45 p.m., Rock Island Main Library Community Room

Where did your family move from? For many black families, the answer is the South. Join us for the third event in our Civil Rights & Family Memories series with a program about family migrations and traditions. See a short demo on using library tools to research your family and learn how to remake Southern family favorite recipes with chef Eudell Watts, III  Stay for a showing of "Goin' to Chicago," a short film about family migration. Guests can also sign up to share their own stories for the Afro-American Heritage Center's "Memoirs of Mississippi" project. Free!

Generations of Blues: Mississippi bluesman Hal Reed and Quad Cities’ musician and bandleader Ellis Kell deliver an entertaining and informative program on the influence of Delta blues on the Chicago urban blues style.  This program will include live performance of blues music, historic commentary on the journey of the blues, and will define the blues as a cornerstone of our American roots music tradition.

Wednesday, April 7

6:30 p.m., Rock Island Main Library Community Room

Free!

50 years ago, on Feb. 1, 1960, four black college students changed history - just by sitting down at a Woolworth's lunch counter. Join us 50 years later for a free program to celebrate this critical turning point in the civil rights movement on:

Monday, Feb. 1, 2010, 6:45 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Rock Island Library Community Room

Viewing and discussion of a short film,

February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four.

Presented by the Rock Island Public Library and The Afro-American Heritage Center. This is the first of four programs on Civil Rights Memories planned for the next year.

Free and open to the public.

Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin aren’t the only notable birth anniversaries of 2009. The Rock Island Public Library and Augustana College will mark “anniversaries you might have overlooked” on four Thursdays this fall at the Rock Island Main Library, 401 19th Street. Free! Coffee and cookies served after each lecture.

Nov. 12: “Lord Tennyson’s Reaction to 19^th Century Science” Alfred, Lord Tennyson served as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1850 to his death in 1892, one of the longest tenures in history. His lifespan from 1809 to 1892 placed him in a unique position to comment on the Victorian age of progress, a time of rapid change in science, medicine and technology. Dr. Roald Tweet, professor emeritus of English and former holder of the Conrad Bergendoff Chair in the Humanities will consider how the poet reacted to the conflict between faith and scientific knowledge.