Join us in welcoming author Doug Bradley, a Vietnam veteran. Following college graduation, Bradley was drafted into the Army in 1970, serving as an info specialist at the Army Hometown News Center in Kansas City and U.S. Army Republic of Vietnam near Saigon. This program is part of the metro-wide Fall series The Big Read. Miroslav Volf is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School and the Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. Join us for a lecture with Professor Volf on desires. The big challenge of our lives isn't finding paths from desires to their fulfillment but discerning and nurturing desires that are truly worth having. Q&A following the lecture. Light refreshments served.The Kansas City area’s six public libraries are joining together for the 2017 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read. For the first time, partnering libraries span the state line. On the Missouri side: the Kansas City, Mid-Continent and North Kansas City public libraries. In Kansas: the Johnson County Library, Kansas City, Kansas, and Olathe public libraries. They will revisit the turbulent period of the Vietnam war for a community-wide reading of Tim O’Brien’s seminal book The Things They Carried.
The Big Read will take place September - November, 2017. All six libraries will offer Big Read events connected to The Things They Carried and the Vietnam war, with featured NEA Big Read Author Tim O’Brien appearing on Oct. 12 at the Kansas City Public Library’s Plaza Branch.
The program’s goal is to broaden a community’s view of the world and itself through the joy of reading and sharing a single book. As County Librarian Sean Casserley said, "Reading is at its heart is the act of listening. A world that listens is a world at peace."
Many of our Book Groups are reading The Things They Carried during the Fall, and the only thing as enjoyable as a good book is talking about it. See our Book Group schedule »
Our Fall theme is Constructing Truth, and many of our Fall events will explore memory, storytelling, and interpreting art through various lenses.
Wednesday, Oct 18
12 - 1 p.m.
Central Library
Join us in welcoming author Doug Bradley, a Vietnam veteran. Following college graduation, Bradley was drafted into the Army in 1970, serving as an info specialist at the Army Hometown News Center in Kansas City and U.S. Army Republic of Vietnam near Saigon.
Wednesday, Oct 25
6 - 7:30 p.m.
Central Library
Everyone has witnessed or experienced incivility. It is often easier to argue or unfriend than listen and seek common ground. Join us for a community dialogue about civility in politics and our personal lives, led by trained facilitators. Light refreshments provided.
Dr. Karen Remmler on Remembering the War Dead in the Digital Age
Saturday, Nov 11
2:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Central Library
Mount Holyoke Professor Karen Remmler's research and teaching focuses on the politics and cultures of transnational memory in the aftermath of atrocity and war. Images of the war dead circulate to a wider public, making private mourning a collective memory, prone to manipulation. Join us for a lecture followed by a Q&A. Light refreshments served.
Tuesday, Nov 14
4 - 7 p.m.
Central Library
Friendships and communities grow from conversations and these same conversations can build bridges and challenge stereotypes. We provide the conversation starters and you provide the conversation. All are welcome. Drop in anytime from 4-7 p.m. Food and drink provided.
Saturday, Dec 9
10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Central Library
Join us for a day of documentary films where we search for truth within the world we live. Q&A and discussion follow each screening. Popcorn provided.
10 a.m. Elephants in the Coffee with filmmaker D.K. Bhaskar
12 p.m. Re:Dream with series producer Christopher Cook
See what other metro libraries are doing for The Big Read, and explore the rest of our Constructing Truth events »
The Big Read is funded through the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.