Search Stories
Louder Than a Bomb KC
Central Resource Library is hosting a Louder Than a Bomb KC preliminary bout tomorrow evening, March 6, 6-8 pm. Areas in and around the Carmack Community Room will indeed be loud. We hope to see you there enjoying some spoken-word poetry!
LTABKC is an annual youth slam poetry competition. This year, 19 teams from all corners of metropolitan area will participate. The winning team will represent Kansas City at Brave New Voices, a national slam poetry competition held in Houston this July.
anothermaxwell
anothermaxwell is Shenita Hughley, a multitalented singer-songwriter, producer and instrumentalist whose music combines hip-hop, R&B and synthpop elements into an engaging whole. She recorded and produced her latest EP, Masterpiece, entirely by herself, right down to the artwork, a process she describes as "a difficult task." We're fortunate to share an interview with Hughley about her creative process, her inspirations and what's ahead for her in 2018.
*
This Week at the Library
This week at the Library, you can get help with or your book group or your sound recordings, think deep thoughts about religion and time, up your selfie game, and connect with your legislators!
Drop-In Sound Studio Help Tuesday, March 6 @ 4 pm, Central Resource Library
The Care and Feeding of Your Book Group Thursday, March 8 @ 6:30 pm, Corinth Library
Dr. Nicholaus Pumphrey on Religion and Time Thursday, March 8 @ 6:30 pm, Central Resource Library
Take Better Photos Saturday, March 10 @ 3 pm, Gardner Library
Legislative Coffee Saturday, March 10 @ 10 am, Blue Valley Library
You can also catch the last of our canine series or play some table top games!
New Storywalk at Antioch Park
The days are getting a bit warmer, and next time you're itching to get to the park, don't just take a walk, take a Storywalk! At Antioch Park, you and your little ones can enjoy a story while you stroll. Our newest featured book is All Kinds of Friends, a book about friendships with old friends, young friends, furry friends, feathered friends, "friends with different ways to walk," and "friends with different ways to talk." Thanks to Johnson County Park and Recreation for this partnership.
Enter a Writing Contest
We love reading local, and we love local authors here at the Library. In support of our home-grown talent, we invite submissions of poetry, fiction, and essays.
Each month we host a new contest with prizes including a $200 honorarium and a reading at the Library or The Writers Place. Read more about the guidelines and enter your original works here »
Today at the Library
Today you can meet author Bronwen Dickey and artist Juniper Tangpuz!
Pit Bulls as Targets of Breed Specific Legislation 8am @ Central Resource Library
Join Bronwen Dickey, author of Pit Bull: the Battle Over an American Icon, and Brent Toellner of KC Pet Project in a conversation about more than dogs. Animals in deprived areas can easily be affected by the same cycles of desperation, poverty and violence that plague their human caretakers. Q&A following program. Cosponsored by The Writers Place.
Meet the Artist: Juniper Tangpuz 12pm @ Lackman Library
Meet local artist Juniper Tangpuz and learn about the secrets behind his incredible paper and cardboard sculptures currently on display at the Lackman Library.
Research and Reporting for Creative Writers 6pm @ The Writers Place
Once you’ve settled on a topic, what comes next? Explore the nuts and bolts of research and reporting, from pre-interview to assembling the final endnotes and citations with Bronwen Dickey, author and contributing editor at The Oxford American. Think of it as “all the tips and tricks this journalist wishes someone had shared with her when she started out.” Now she’s sharing them with you.
Meet the Author: Bronwen Dickey
Join author Bronwen Dickey at these four events:
Evolution of a Pit Bull Tuesday, Feb. 27, 12pm @ Central Resource Library
Join Bronwen Dickey, author of Pit Bull: the Battle Over an American Icon, in conversation with Lisa Wade McCormick, award-winning journalist and investigative producer at WDAF Fox 4, and Katie Bray Barnett of Barnett Law Office and founder of the KU Student Animal Legal Defense Fund. Animals in deprived areas can easily be affected by the same cycles of desperation, poverty, and violence that plague their human caretakers. Q&A following program. Cosponsored by The Writers Place.
Pit Bulls in our Communities Tuesday, Feb. 27, 6pm @ Central Resource Library
In Pit Bull: the Battle Over and American Icon, Bronwen Dickey asks, "What is it about pit bulls that ignites such strong feelings? And what does that mean for us, as a society?" Join Dickey and Brent Toellner of KC Pet Project to explore these questions. Q&A following. Cosponsored by The Writers Place.
Pit Bulls as Targets of Breed Specific Legislation Wednesday, Feb. 28, 8am @ Central Resource Library
Join Bronwen Dickey and Brent Toellner of KC Pet Project in a conversation about more than dogs. Animals in deprived areas can easily be affected by the same cycles of desperation, poverty and violence that plague their human caretakers. Q&A following program. Cosponsored by The Writers Place.
Research and Reporting for Creative Writers Wednesday, Feb. 28, 6pm @ The Writers Place
Once you’ve settled on a topic, what comes next? Explore the nuts and bolts of research and reporting, from pre-interview to assembling the final endnotes and citations with Bronwen Dickey, author and contributing editor at The Oxford American. Think of it as “all the tips and tricks this journalist wishes someone had shared with her when she started out.” Now she’s sharing them with you.
Signs of Progress
While we’re building the Lenexa City Center Library, Construction Manager Turner Construction Company has arranged for a barrier wall facing the popular Public Market and City Hall. The Library designed the images to reflect our patrons, services and programs, along with a rendering of the completed library building. In total, it’s more than 250 feet of Library imagery! The signs were fabricated and installed by Lawrence, KS-based Star Signs. You can also see their handiwork at the Central and Oak Park Libraries. Read more news about our new building projects »
I Like It Better Over There
When Monticello Library opens later this year, it will house a circulating collection of almost 100,000 items: books, CDs and DVDs. There are also shelves for Holds, Periodicals and Newspapers. That’s a lot of shelves, at least 1900 linear feet at last count.
Our resident specialists in shelf capacity and location are Michelle Olsen, Circulation Manager, and Lacie Griffin, Collection Development Manager. As part of the building design and construction process, they’ve logged hundreds of hours poring over layouts, blueprints, floorplans and diagrams to maximize our shelf locations to make as much material as possible available to patrons of our newest branch.
As you may well understand, they like to get it right the first time. A “range” of shelves is made of 7 shelving units side-by-side and back-to-back. Each unit contains 5 shelves and is 64” tall x 36” wide x 12” deep. SO: each 21-foot long range contains 70 shelves, and at an estimated 100 pounds per shelf, that’s almost 4 tons of books! It takes a lot to get them moved, so you can see why we do so much planning!
Why I Give My Time
A quick interview with JCL Foundation Volunteer Extraordinaire Beth Welsh
Why did you initially become a volunteer with the Johnson County Library Foundation?
I was in a place where I was feeling stuck in rut and was looking for new experiences. Also, I work from home and I wanted to get out of the house and interact with people. My husband Barry is a longtime volunteer for the Library and it seemed like it would be a good fit. I’m a lifetime learner, I always want to be learning new things, I don’t want to stagnate. I began volunteering at Friends book sales in 2007 and became a fill-in cashier for the Friends bookstores in 2011. Volunteering for the Foundation struck me as a fun opportunity to learn new things. I learned WordPress and social media marketing. Fortunately, I didn’t have to learn anything about grant writing!
What are some of your favorite things about being a volunteer?
I love getting to play with books and be around librarians. Library people are awesome – and that includes Foundation people! They’re smart, inquisitive and well informed.
Have you had any discoveries about the Library or the Foundation working as a volunteer?
The Foundation was a new discovery; I didn’t know anything about it before volunteering. I learned about the Foundation’s mission to build an endowment for the Library’s collection and find support for lifelong learning programs offered at the Library. I also discovered the Foundation events. The Pinnacle Awards, Library Lets Loose, Stay Home and Read a Book Ball and elementia. My favorite Foundation event is the Library Lets Loose – it’s pretty amazing. elementia is also a fun event tied to a great mission to encourage teen writers and artists.
Any advice for people who might be on the fence about volunteering?
Try it! There are so many outlets for volunteering at the Library. Visit a branch, or the Friends sorting center or bookstore – see what interests you. Volunteer coordinators can connect you with a volunteer opportunity that works with your schedule and meets your interests. If it sounds like fun, give it a shot.