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This week at the Library, you can join us for:

 Money Mondays – Tips for Renters, Kansas Tenant & Landlord Law - Monday, March 29, 6 – 7:00 PM

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many renters have worried about eviction when they could not pay rent on time and in full. Landlords have concerns, too, as they attempt to work with tenants to maintain their rental housing. Teresa Baker, Manager, Tenant & Landlord Counseling & Education Program, Housing & Credit Counseling, Inc. will give helpful information.
 

Poetry Walk – April 1 - 11,  All Day

Take a walk in the park while reading poems written by local poets and enjoy artwork featured in the Library’s teen literary magazine, elementia.
 

The Past is Prologue: The Shawnee Tribe – Thursday, April 1, 7 – 8:00 PM

"The Past is Prologue" is a bimonthly program where we highlight topics that have been left out, glossed over, or misrepresented in the history books. This month we welcome Jim Lee, Vice-Chair of the Shawnee Tribe Cultural and Historical Preservation Committee from Miami, Oklahoma to share the history and culture of the Shawnee tribe.
 

Legislative Coffee – Saturday, April 3, 9:30 – 10:30 AM

Discover what's percolating in the Kansas Legislature. Senator Ethan Corson, District 7, Representative Linda Featherstone, District 16, Representative Lindsay Vaughn, District 22, and Representative Jarrod Ousley, District 24 will discuss the new legislative session, followed by Q and A. You bring the questions! This series is presented in partnership with the League of Women Voters. 

And much more …

Money Mondays - Tips for Renters, Kansas Tenant & Landlord Law
Monday, March 29 6 pm Register now »

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many renters have worried about eviction when they could not pay rent on time and in full. Landlords have concerns, too, as they attempt to work with tenants to maintain their rental housing. Teresa Baker, Manager, Tenant & Landlord Counseling & Education Program, Housing & Credit Counseling, Inc. will give helpful information about: 

• why you need a rental contract and three things that should be in every contract,
• common issues and ways to work effectively with a landlord
• maintenance issues, pets, roommates and more
• how HCCI helps both renters (tenants) and landlords with questions about rental housing issues.

This program series is made possible through a partnership with the Housing and Credit Counseling, Inc.

Discover what's percolating in the Kansas Legislature. Representatives and Senators with constituents in Johnson County will discuss the new legislative session, followed by Q&A. You bring the questions! This series is presented in partnership with the League of Women Voters. See below for the elected officials attending each session.

Submit your questions in advance »

Saturday, March 27 @ 9:30 am. Register now »

March is tournament time! How is your bracket doing? Not so good? Cheer up! When we get the bracket blues, we like to browse through old timey basketball photos at jocohistory.org. There we found a salty looking crew. The 1907 Olathe Normal Basketball Team may have only had five players, they may not have been able to dunk and for all we know might have lost every game. But, they are winners in our book as they serve as a reminder that jocohistory.org is the place to time travel through local history. Be sure to follow our hashtag on Twitter! Have a Happy Throwback Thursday! 

Did you know you can join one of our librarians for a storytime whenever you want? With a variety of our favorite songs, rhymes, finger plays, and flannel board stories, this is a great way to spend time with your kids and help them foster a love of reading. See our Storytimes On Demand »

On Artists in Sight, we interview some of the Kansas City area's best local visual artists for insights about their work, creative process and the things that inspire them.

March 23: Sol Anzorena
Sol Anzorena was born in Argentina but grew up in southern Spain. She has been making art since she was very young and has been traveling and studying art at different universities in Poland and Brazil. She recently returned from a trip to Asia, where she spent considerable time painting various murals and learning about the traditional art of India. Anzorena’s love of nature inspires her to create “organic and loose” works. Currently living in Kansas City, Sol Anzorena splits her time working on new paintings and composing music with her partner in their band Roadkill Rising.

This program will be hosted using the On24 meeting software, and you can register for this program directly with On24.

April 27: Lindsey Yankey
Lindsey Yankey grew up in rural Kansas playing outside, painting, drawing, and playing sports. She studied Illustration at the University of Kansas and is currently living in Lawrence, KS, with her family and their jungle of house plants. She finds inspiration in nature, animals, books, people, and traveling. Her illustrations are made with a variety of materials. She loves the mouthwatering juiciness of oil paint, the independence watercolor, the history of found paper, the simplicity of pencil and pen, and all the rabbit holes that are revealed by carving linoleum block to create pattern and repetition. Making children's books is her way of combining all her loves. She is the author and illustrator of the books Bluebird, Sun and Moon, and the illustrator of My Grandma and Me. 

This program will be hosted using the On24 meeting software, and you can register for this program directly with On24.

Past sessions available on demand:

PAST: January 26: Chico Sierra
Chico Sierra is a Mexican-American visual artist, poet, musician and muralist, among many other things. Chico learned that borders can be fixed and severe, but also blurry or even non-existent. His cultural hybridity has played out throughout his life as he has spent time living with people of different classes and cultures in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Germany and the Philippines. The cultures that Chico experienced in these countries, as well as the theme of blurring borders can be found in Chico’s art, poetry and music which is heavily influenced by graffiti, pop art, Mexican folk art and political comics.

PAST: February 23: Fally Afani
Fally Afani’s photography captures the electric energy and urgency of the Kansas City and Lawrence music scenes. Her love of live music prompted her to focus her energy on working with local musicians and connecting them with the community. In normal times you can find her covering concerts in Lawrence, Kansas City, or music festivals across the nation. Her award-winning journalism, which now spans 15 years, has been featured in magazines, newspapers, and television stations across Kansas. She has received several Kansas Association of Broadcasters awards as well as an Edward R. Murrow award for her online work in journalism. She is the editor and founder of the music journalism project I Heart Local Music
 

This week at the Library, you can join us for:

Online Storytime – Monday, March 22, 10 – 10:30 AM
Hearing stories is a great way to spend time with your kids and help them foster a love of reading. Stories, songs, fingerplays and movement activities foster pre-reading skills. Fun for the whole family.

Artists In Sight – Tuesday, March 23, 6:30  – 7:00 PM
An interview with Sol Anzorena. She recently returned from a trip to Asia, where she spent considerable time painting various murals and learning about the traditional art of India. Anzorena’s love of nature inspires her to create “organic and loose” works.

Español a la carta – Thursday, March 25 , 4:00  – 5:30 PM
For Spanish-language learners: This is an online class for intermediate and advanced students of this beautiful language. In this class, we will talk about Latin American countries, culture, history, literature and more.

Legislative Coffee – Saturday, March 27, 9:30 – 10:30 AM
Discover what's percolating in the Kansas Legislature. Senator Dinah Sykes, District 21, Representative Mari-Lynn Poskin, District 20, and Representative Rui Xu, District 25  will discuss the new legislative session, followed by Q and A. You bring the questions! This series is presented in partnership with the League of Women Voters. 

And much more …

We are making areas of Central Resource Library even better in 2021! After clearing the Library of furniture and equipment on the staff side, "Little Central" was opened on February 15 to give patrons access to some resources and modified services during the building upgrade. Little Central includes services like materials return, holds pickup and self-checkout, access to nine public computers, restrooms, printing/copying/scanning, and community information. 

To create Little Central, the Library was closed for a week while temporary walls were installed to create a public barrier from the noise and construction work. In this first phase of the project, construction crew members installed plastic covering over all the book stacks and existing furniture before beginning demolition of the old staff space. Crew members moved the Kids area stacks and started carpet removal.

We know you probably have many questions about what to expect over the next year, so we’ve put together a Construction FAQ that addresses the status of popular services like the Black & Veatch MakerSpace and Genealogy resources, more details about Little Central, and where to find alternate services.

In addition to its public service staff, Central is home to many departments that support all 14 branches. Once the work at Central is complete, you will feel the positive impact across the Library system!