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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.

Former JCL staff member and now a professional writer, Mark Scheel, reminisces about his time working for Johnson County Library, working at our Questions desk as an Information Specialist, using a real physical card catalog, helping bring newly-important internet access to patrons, and more in this article »

This #ThrowbackThursday, we're celebrating genealogy and one of our genealogy volunteers, Darryl Jerome. Darryl knows that learning about your family history is the key to unlocking who you are and where you fit in your family tree. As a Johnson County Library volunteer in the Genealogy department at Central Resource Library, he has experienced the joy and fulfillment of helping families find their roots. He has been volunteering with the Library since 2017, and since then he's helped so many people on the genealogy quest.

One of his rewarding experiences started with a phone call to the genealogy desk in September 2018 from a genealogy society in Kentucky. A family had asked for help in locating records on Dolores Clark. They had traced her back to a cemetery in Olathe, Kansas, but couldn’t find any further information. There appeared to be no local connection between Dolores and this area.  Darryl began by researching obituaries in the Kansas City Star where he found her simple obituary. As is typical with many in the newspaper, it was short on detailed information, but Darryl uncovered one clue: that she was from St. Petersburg, Florida. Armed with only the years of her birth and her death, Darryl expanded his obituary search to include St. Petersburg. He successfully found her obituary, as well as that of her husband who had preceded her in death. Ironically, it was his obituary, not hers, that included her previous married name plus the names and ages of their children. With this knowledge it would be relatively easy to track down family connections, so Darryl emailed his discovery to the genealogy society in Kentucky. He later received a personal phone call from the family thanking him for his efforts.

“Genealogy is a puzzle” Darryl says, and he enjoys helping others put the pieces of their family together. Personal lives are puzzles, too. If our encounters and experiences were puzzle pieces, they would create a picture of who we are. For Darryl, a significant piece of his puzzle went missing for a while. The missing piece was his wife, Darlene.

At the tender age of 17, Darryl and Darlene were married in February 1962. They spent time in Sarcoxie, Missouri, where Darlene was born and had grown up. After a two year "all-expenses-paid vacation" courtesy of the United States Army, Darryl returned to married life with Darlene. They lived in Kansas City until 1973 when the company he worked for transferred him to Denver. Their marriage began to unravel, and the couple divorced in 1977. Darryl stayed in Denver and Darlene made her way to Oregon and then on to California, Utah and Arizona.

Darryl remarried, but his second wife passed away after fighting cancer for 15 years. In 2016, he decided he needed a vacation. When asked by his co-workers where he planned to go, he told them he intended to throw a few things together and just get in the car and drive. He left Denver at 10 am, and 14 hours later he found himself back in Sarcoxie, Missouri. The next morning, he spent some time taking pictures of “home” and exploring downtown, disappointed at how run-down it had become. He recognized the name on a building and went inside to see if anyone was there he knew. No familiar faces greeted him, but he ended up having a great conversation about family, friends, classmates and teachers with strangers who knew the town well. Numerous names and phone numbers were exchanged, including that of his former brother-in-law, Bill. It was Bill who informed Darryl that Darlene had moved back from Arizona and was living in Overland Park, Kansas.

Long story short, Darryl and Darlene re-connected in May 2016, and by December he had moved back from Denver. He discovered she had a keen interest in genealogy. It was often a topic of discussion in repeated phone calls back and forth. Her love for genealogy sparked a passion in it for him as well. Their long phone calls and visits helped re-ignite their love for each other. They had both maintained their status as amateur photographers, each still owning the Nikon cameras they bought when they were first married. Most importantly, however, was that Darlene met with the approval of Darryl’s aloof and finicky cat, Mischa.

Darlene was a member of the Johnson County Genealogy Society, so Darryl attended meetings with her. He eventually became a volunteer and is now Vice-President of Volunteers for the society and a liaison between them and the library. Darryl is an important piece of the larger picture that is the Johnson County Library.

NASA turns 60 this year. The Apollo Moon Landing was 50 years ago. Summer Reading at Johnson County Library highlights this history and inspires kids of all ages to dream big, believe in themselves and create their own stories.

Reading is a skill, and the more you practice the better you get. We encourage school-aged families - and everyone else while we're at it - to read for at least 30 minutes a day. You can read anything: books, magazines, video game liner notes; it's up to your individual likes and interests.

What's really cool is this: reading about things impacts the same parts of your brain - physically and psychologically - as actual 3D experiences! So, reading is doing. Reading experiences help you explore interpersonal skills, nurture your empathy and deepen your emotional intelligence.

Join our crew and explore the universe of Summer Reading with us »

Monticello Library now offers two Book Groups - one at 1 pm and one at 6:30 pm, both occurring on the second Tuesday of each month. Here's what we're reading »

May: Educated by Tara Westover

June: The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

July: The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

August: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

This #ThrowbackThursday we're honoring our Lackman Library Volunteers!

My name is Linda, and I'm happy to have had the opportunity to visit with some of the Lackman Library volunteers during an appreciation lunch for them. Some of them will move to other volunteer posts within the Johnson County Library, and others are moving on to new opportunities as services move from Lackman Library to Lenexa City Center Library. From a woman with 34 years of library service to one who had just started, they all contributed in their own special way to the foundation and success of the Lackman Library.

Jo Ouseley, the 34-year volunteer, started at the main branch of the Johnson County Library then transferred to Lackman shortly after it opened in 1997. She and the Lackman branch have commendably served the residents of Lenexa and Johnson County ever since. Jo was the recipient of the Shankel Award for Outstanding Volunteers in 2009. I listened as she and other volunteers reminisced about sorting and re-shelving books in the children’s department. They concluded it was not the best time to wear new slacks, and as Jo pointed out, the amount of time they spent on their knees provided ample opportunity to catch up on their prayers.

Another volunteer, Donna Pray, shares special memories of the Lackman Library with her grandson. She was busy with her volunteer duties one day when a certain little boy caught her attention. She quickly recognized her three-year-old grandson who came in with his babysitter to attend story-time, a popular event for toddlers. He was surprised to see her and asked why she was at the library and not at her house where he had always seen her. For years he enjoyed visiting the library, not only for story-time, but for a smile and hug from Grandma as well.

Volunteering is not just something you do if you have time, it makes your time more valuable. Take Kathy Peters and Judy Carney, for instance. The time they spent volunteering became priceless when they found their best friend in each other. Kathy, a 10-year volunteer, liked to shelve books and Judy, a 9-year volunteer, liked to work on DVDs and audiobooks. They were so fast and efficient with their individual tasks that they always found time afterwards to talk… and a friendship was born! Kathy loves to read, so it’s understandable that her favorite day of the week was the day she spent at the library. Being a well-rounded reader made her a good resource for those looking for recommendations, and patrons grew to count on her as a resource for their next great read.

Janet Hall, a volunteer since November 2013, found an undeniable satisfaction in the hours she put in at the Library, but it’s the staff and other volunteers for which she is truly grateful. Their care and concern after her son passed away a few years ago will never be forgotten. She treasures their kindness and holds dear the wind chimes that were given to her in his memory.

Other volunteers I met that day were Lou Ann Carpenter, Lorraine Gerard, Fran Jaderborg, and Nikki Hollembeak.  They all confirmed what I easily sensed: the bond and camaraderie they shared was invaluable. It was also clear that a mutual appreciation existed between the Library staff and the volunteers. Each group seemed extremely grateful for the other. Like the pages of a book, they were all bound together. The pages have turned, and the book has been closed - but what a story it was!

Photo from left:  Nikki Hollembeak, Kathy Peters, LouAnn Carpenter, Lorraine Gerard, Fran Jaderborg, Janet Hall, Donna Pray, Judy Carney, Jo Ouseley, Volunteer Coordinator Rita Glick

Lackman volunteers not pictured: JoAnn Hadel, Elaine Scherder, Glenda Carden, Bill Hartel, Pat Veno, Deanne Belshe, Sandy Allshouse and Jan Hendrix.