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

Library OnDemand – Available anytime you like.

Your doorway into live and archived programs. Arts & Culture, Career & Finance, Community Matters, Writers and more!

Teen Takeout – Tuesday, Nov. 1, All day

Sign up for the Teen Takeout book and get a free new-release teen book each month! Every month features a different theme, and the book is yours to keep. Registration runs from 1st to the 15th of every month (until full) at jocolibrary.org/teen-takeout.

Intro to Sewing – Tuesday, Nov. 1, 6 – 7:30 p.m.

If you have never used a sewing machine, or just want to brush up your skills, this is the perfect workshop to develop or refresh basic machine sewing knowledge. During this in-person event, participants will learn to sew a seam, a hem and a button hole using a modern sewing machine. Our sewing machines are available for use after the class session, and anytime the MakerSpace is open, or BYOM (Bring Your Own Machine) if you’d like to learn how to use it. Registration is required.

The Past is Prologue: Visual Biographies – Friday, Nov. 4, 7 – 8 p.m.

The Past is Prologue is a bimonthly program that highlights topics often left out, glossed over, or misrepresented in our history books. For our November topic, artist Patti Streeper will detail her artistic process when choosing subjects for her visual-biographies series.

And much more happening this week »

In more than 25 years doing crucial materials handling jobs for Johnson County Library, Rose Crane has seen constant change but has thrived and always kept learning.  

Now it’s time for new adventures. Crane recently retired, feeling grateful for her colleagues and for a very fulfilling career. 

“I have enjoyed the people. I’ve worked with really great people,” Crane said in an interview. “Our Library, especially since COVID, is changing quite a bit and they are always looking for ways to be a better resource to the community.” 

Crane grew up in Kansas City, Mo., and frequented Kansas City’s old downtown Library as a child. She graduated from Northeast High and took classes at Penn Valley Community College before marrying and becoming a mom.  

Crane remembers reading a lot to her kids, who loved the Beatrix Potter books and the Frog and Toad series. She took her children to Johnson County’s Cedar Roe branch “because it had a great kids’ section.” 

When her youngest son was in middle school, Crane began working outside the home. Eventually she spotted a newspaper ad for a part-time courier/page position at Johnson County’s Central Resource Library. She applied and was hired in August 1996. 

She started out sorting materials but was so fast that the Library added processing/labeling duties. 

“It was active. I was learning a lot about the Library and the materials we had and how to prep them for the public,” she recalled. After a few years, she became a full-time Lead Processor.  

In the early 2000s, Library automation technology was changing fast and many processing and cataloguing tasks were outsourced or re-defined.  

Crane eventually was named Acquisitions and Processing Supervisor, overseeing the work flow from ordering to payments to receiving shipments to conferring with vendors. It’s a big job, involving nearly 150,000 items per year. 

While the Library staff was ever changing, Crane and a core group of coworkers bonded and became friends over the years. They included Jason Barnes, now Bibliographic Services Manager; Richard Baumgarten, Liz Schneeberg; Janet Woolsey, Mary Nicometo, Marie Lewis and the newest members, Alyssa Matzat and Dawn Brumbley.  

While Libraries nationwide deal with book-banning challenges, Crane says Johnson County Library has always had a philosophy of providing access.  

“This is what we stand for,” she said. “We don’t judge.” 

Crane and other materials-handling professionals were briefly furloughed when COVID struck but  they returned to work in May 2020. While Central was closed for renovations in 2021, they worked in a challenging warehouse environment but managed to maintain effective operations. 

“We kept reminding ourselves, we’re in this together. It’s all temporary,” Crane said. “I think that’s a mantra that we have even now, because there have been so many changes and everyone had to learn so many things.” 

She anticipates a busy retirement. Her granddaughters, ages 2-7, are a lot of fun. She will help with her church’s children’s ministry. And she plans to make her garden in Overland Park “a paradise.” 

For her co-workers she leaves words of encouragement. “Keep up the good work,” she said. “So long as you roll with it and have some patience and grace for one another, it’ll all work out.” 

It’s another grand Throwback Thursday where we encourage you to time travel through Johnson County's history. JoCoHistory is a collaborative presentation of the history from the Johnson County Museum, Johnson County Library and many JoCoHistory partners. Explore historical photographs and documents about the people, places and organizations of Johnson County, Kansas, from the 19th century to the present.

Collection spotlight: Historical Atlases of Johnson County

About this collection: Historical maps and narratives that trace the boundaries of land ownership and the development of townships and cities. Use these atlases to discover how Johnson County has changed over the last 150 years. These high-resolution images allow you to zoom in to view small details.