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Scheduled:

Edgerton READ Poster Winner

Each of our locations draws a name from the pool of kids who participated in Summer Reading to win a READ poster photoshoot. Here is Edgerton Library's winner! You can enjoy the adorable-ness of current and past READ poster winners at each of our Libraries.

Edgerton Library is hosting one of our Space-themed Summer Reading programs this summer, Music on Mars with Paul Stamper.

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Summer Maker Passport, Cedar Roe Turns 50, and Bookmarkable

Look for the Johnson County Library podcast right here every Monday at noon!

In this episode of Did you hear, the Nick and Thomas from the MakerSpace introduce the new Maker Passport Program! Then we wish Cedar Roe Library a happy 50th birthday. Plus, Dave explains bookmarkable.

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Lenexa City Center Library is Now Open!

Welcome to Lenexa City Center Library! Our newest branch is now open. We could go on and on about all of its great features, but go see for yourself!

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Now at Oak Park: Lisa Healey

Wednesday, May 1 to Friday, June 28, 2019
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Nature and our environment are all around us yet we often look right past them rather than right at them.  I love hiking in a National Parks or on the trails of the suburbs or the streets of a city. My eye sees literally our natural environment but also our man built environment, the forms created by man can also be enthralling. Exploring our natural and man built surroundings is a spiritual feeling for me. I come to see how small I may be to the universe and its creator yet how integral we each are to the whole of our world. This exhibit displays my photography of the world around us. You will view up close enough to see the hairs on a moth or rust on a drain pipe and pull out to see the curves of a large tree or the geometry of a city scape. But I’ll go even further and show you abstractions that while they come from our environment, you may have to be a detective to decipher what they are.

Enjoy this exhibition through June 28.

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Art Work at Lenexa City Center Library

Interconnections by Stephen T. Johnson

Stephen T. Johnson is a Caldecott Honor children’s book author/illustrator who lives and works in Lawrence, KS. He has exhibited his artwork both regionally and nationally. He has created works of art for Love Field Airport in Dallas, TX and subway stations in Brooklyn, NY and Los Angeles, CA.

Interconnections is a set of three mosaics, each 23-1/2 feet tall x 5-1/2 feet wide. This work is installed and on public display at the new Lenexa City Center Library.

Words from the Artist

"We rearrange the notes of a scale to generate musical compositions, we mix the colors of a rainbow to create visual works of art, and we reorder the letters of an alphabet to form words and texts.

As with a triplet of stained glass windows or three lines of a Haiku, Interconnections is a triptych that celebrates the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet through a profusion of typographic fonts, both uppercase and lowercase, intermixed with images from my books — Alphabet City, Alphabet School, and A is for Art: An Abstract Alphabet.

Reading from left to right, the first panel celebrates the letters A to I, the second panel J to Q, and the third panel R to Z. The goal of Interconnections is to inspire visitors to the library to view our world in a fresh and playful way, and in so doing, discover for themselves juxtapositions of scale, color harmonies, rhythms in surface textures, and joy in what may seem unremarkable or ordinary, by transcending the mundane and unearthing its hidden beauty."

Technical notes

Artist Stephen T. Johnson worked with the German company Franz Mayer of Munich to fabricate these works. This company works with artists from all over the world to interpret their designs from the original medium into architectural glass and mosaics. Johnson created digital designs for these artworks and emailed them to the fabricators. The company used Johnson’s designs as guides for how to arrange the many individual glass pieces used to compose the mosaic.

In this mosaic there are 4 different kinds of tesserae:

•          Flat marbles/glass gems – small round glass pieces that have an entirely smooth surface

•          Glass cake – large flat pieces of mosaic glass that can be cut or broken into regular or irregular shapes, used to make both kinds of smaller pieces listed below

•          Italian Smalti – small, regularly-sized, machine cut and broken mosaic glass pieces that has an identical surface quality on all facets

•          Mexican glass – small, irregularly-sized hand-cut and broken mosaic glass pieces that can have different surface qualities and colors on different facets

This work of art is part of the Johnson County, KS Public Art Collection. Learn more at jocogov/dept/facilities/public-art-commission.

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Lenexa City Center Library Opening June 2

The new Lenexa City Center Library will open its doors to the public on Sunday, June 2, when we'll introduce you to your new Library and its amenities. A ribbon cutting will open the doors promptly at 1 pm. There will be remarks from public officials, and a recitation of a work commissioned for the occasion from the emerita Poet Laureate of Kansas, Wyatt Townley.

Activities on June 2 will include tours of the new building and an opportunity to see award-winning children’s book illustrator Stephen T. Johnson’s new work of public art at the site.

The new 40,000 square foot building occupies two floors at the Lenexa City Center campus. In addition to high-quality Library services, the new space features public meeting rooms, public computers and a robust children’s programming area.

Special features                  
•   Kids area with dedicated storytime room 
•  Exterior Drive-Thru  
•   Holds Lobby  
•  Balcony with seating and device power 

Collection size                     
•    71,000 on Opening Day

Technology features          
•   Wi-Fi access 
•  20 public computer workstations
•  Comfy seating and tables equipped with device power stations 
•  Wireless AV in Study Rooms  
•  Collaboration Tables

 

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Stay Home and Read a Book Ball, Meet the Illustrator, Teen Fiction for Adults, and Book Groups

In this episode of Did you hear?, The Johnson County Library Foundation drops by to promote our Stay Home and Read a book Ball. Then, Youth Services Librarian Christina Larkins pops by with children’s book illustrator Bob Kolar to talk about his latest book: Hey-Ho to Mars we Go! And if that wasn’t enough, Gregg Winsor and Allison Schwartz talk teen fiction for adults!

And, our host Dave Carson celebrates book groups!

 

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Featured Artist Friday

Kansas City-based singer-songwriter Jaclyn Bell described her music as a cross between Kelsea Ballerini, Paramore and Chvrches, a sound she's been cultivating since she was 17. Her debut album, Wanna Be Mine, is a well-produced showcase for a voice that seems tailor-made for big audiences. We are fortunate to share an interview with Bell about her new album, her writing process and what's ahead.

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Please introduce yourself. Describe your music for new listeners.

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Throwback Thursday

Do you remember the thrill of seeing the giant water tower painted in the Worlds of Fun colors? How about the "robot" atop the KCPL building downtown? For many in Johnson County, the red and white striped awnings of the White Haven Motor Lodge on Metcalf stir up all kinds of memories!

jocohistory.org is your place for Johnson County, Kansas history! Follow our hashtag on Twitter.