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Johnson County Library achieved another milestone in its seven-decade history with the March 20 opening of its newest branch, Merriam Plaza Library. This beautiful facility is co-located on a campus with the Merriam Community Center in the 6000 block of Slater Street.

The 15,000-square-foot branch replaced the much-loved but outdated Antioch Library, which had served Johnson County since the 1950s at the corner of Antioch Road and Shawnee Mission Parkway.

The new building is just a few blocks from the Antioch location and has Antioch’s same staff and collection. In fact, nearly 450 people, including Library-loving patrons and employees past and present, lined up shoulder-to-shoulder over about 1/3 mile on March 2 for a marvelous Slater Street Storybook Relay. They passed 58 items from Antioch to Merriam Plaza, the last of the Library collection to make the journey.

The Library and community center entrances face each other across a courtyard. The two facilities share a parking structure and a welcoming outdoor gathering space. Merriam leaders pitched the many benefits of a shared campus to Library officials in 2017, beginning a partnership to create this distinctive jewel and destination in the heart of the community.

At the March 20 grand opening, Merriam Mayor Bob Pape said patrons can nourish their minds at the Library and then work on their physical fitness at the community center right next door.

“It’s kind of a one-stop-shop for a total body makeover,” Pape said.

The energy-efficient building was designed by Dake Wells Architects, with many patron suggestions in mind, and constructed by Titan Built. Modern amenities include a convenient drive-thru; a cozy and colorful children’s reading area; vibrant public art; a large meeting room with updated technology to host Storytime and other events; two well-equipped study rooms; spacious windows allowing in lots of natural light; and an attractive green roof that preserves the roof’s lifespan while nurturing pollinators and native vegetation.

The Library also commemorates an important but little-known chapter in American racial justice history with the Webb Family Meeting Room. Long-time Merriam residents Alfonso and Mary Webb’s successful 1949 lawsuit to desegregate Merriam schools laid the legal foundation for the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education case five years later.

The Webbs had 10 children (five sons and five daughters) and lived in the community known as South Park, now part of the city of Merriam. Six of the children are still living. The Webb family’s courage and commitment to educational access resonated with Library officials, who wanted to pay homage to the family and share the story with future generations, through the room’s name and a gorgeous four-wall mural by local artist Emily Alvarez. Johnson County Library extends sincere gratitude to the Webb siblings for giving their time and energy to this project.

Victor Webb, son of Mary and Alfonso, addressed a large crowd at the March 20 grand-opening, while holding his 1-year-old grandson Jeffrey.

Webb recalled how the school district had built the new South Park Elementary School, open only to whites, while Black students had to attend the old and inferior Walker School. His parents helped rally the community to fight this injustice.

“It’s about what my mom and my dad did so many years ago,” Webb said. “They believed everybody had a right to a good education.”

Webb thanked the Library, the county and city for honoring his parents’ legacy with the beautiful meeting space. Gesturing to his grandson he said, “When I’m gone, he can walk in this room and he will know what we stood for and what we fought for.”

The Library project was completed on time and on budget. It cost about $13.7 million, funded through the Comprehensive Library Master Plan. Merriam residents did not see a city tax increase to pay for the project. The Library Board of Directors intends to sell the Antioch land and building, with proceeds from the sale funding future Library capital projects.

It’s another grand Throwback Thursday when 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: Johnson County Archives

About this collection: Largely images from annual reports produced by Johnson County staff over the first half of the twentieth century, most notably the County Agricultural Agent and the Home Demonstration Agent. Numerous activities of those two offices are depicted, including programs with area farmers, homemakers and 4-H clubs.

Hello and welcome to No Wait Wednesday, where we take a peek at a great book on the New Release shelves at one of our local Library branches that's hot, fresh, and eagerly waiting for someone to take a chance on it. Normally in this space we tend to look at newer authors who are lurking just under the surface - their books might be well-reviewed, but at the same time aren't household names or endorsed by certain book group-loving celebrities and thus aren't a part of a massively long hold list. Today, however, we take a look at an author who's not only acclaimed as one of the greatest names in his particular genre, but his work has has sold millions of books around the globe and it's honestly a bit surprising that his newest stuff is not already buried under a mountain of holds: Brandon Sanderson.

Since his debut novel Elantris hit the shelves in 2005, Sanderson has electrified an entire generation of fantasy readers. Writing for both adults and teens and with the occasional journeys into science fiction, Sanderson's brand of relatable, intricately-built, and fast-paced novels are ideal entryways into the genre. His work is loosely connected together in an immense shared universe called the "Cosmere," where characters, elements, and concepts might reappear and reinforce themselves from book to book. (New readers shouldn't worry much about reading his work in sequence, however, as these repeating elements are very much in the background - similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe where Doctor Strange or Nick Fury might appear in a movie and you don't need to know their entire history to know what's going on.)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sanderson took the opportunity to work on what he referred to as a series of "Secret Projects" - works that would bypass the traditional publishing path and would offer to fans directly through Kickstarter. After becoming the most successful Kickstarter project of all time, these are now available to the public in print, which (finally!) brings us to today's No Wait Wednesday book, one of those "Secret Projects," entitled Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. Not exactly the straight-ahead epic fantasy that is Sanderson's hallmark, this work involves a more dreamlike fairy-tale fantasy mixed with character-driven romance, which is more in line with the current Romantasy trend of authors like Sarah Maas or Jennifer Armentrout than traditional old-schoolers like Patrick Rothfuss or Robert Jordan that have usually been Sanderson's readalikes.

"Yumi and the Nightmare Painter" introduces us to two characters in vastly different worlds: Yumi is a lonely young woman who lives a quiet, solitary, and thankless life where she channels divine spirits to help her community. Nikaro lives a world surrounded by dark, misty entities that he can trap by painting them into art and thereby protecting his city, however he has lost his creative spark and is just going through the motions. These two characters find themselves connected by a strange bond where, nightly, each can live in the others' body. As they get to know each other and learn how to navigate their new worlds and new abilities, they discover that they are the only ones who can truly understand each other, and they must find a way to both save their worlds and be together. Dreamlike, ethereal, and drenched in richly detailed atmosphere, this fantasy novel wrapped up in a love story was inspired in part by a Japanese manga series, "Hikaru no Go," and the video game "Final Fantasy X," among other Asian influences, and the pages are illustrated in a manga-like style by Aliya Chen that adds greatly to the striking visuals of the story.

Whether you're a fan of epic fantasy, romantasy, Japanese manga, Korean manhwha, or just looking for a well-told stand-alone story that satisfies, give this one a shot and put it on your holds list. Thanks for reading, and we'll see you next week!

Join us for a fun-filled event with family and friends and become a part of the Johnson County tabletop gaming community. Discover new games from our collection or bring your personal favorite to share – you might get creative with a round of Dixit, collaborate to escape the Forbidden Island or strategize your way to victory as King of Tokyo! Come and go as you please. Refreshments are provided.

See the schedule »

For nearly her entire life, Youth Information Specialist Cassidy Coles has had a wonderful relationship with Johnson County Library, first as a patron throughout her childhood, and then joining the staff when she was still in college.

As she approaches her 40th birthday and marks 20 years as a devoted Library employee, she counts her enduring connection to the Library as a true blessing.

“My overwhelming feeling about the whole time I’ve worked here is gratitude,” she said. “I feel so lucky, fortunate, to be able to watch these relationships build, change and grow.”

When she was just a toddler in Overland Park, her mother began taking her to the Antioch branch to check out stacks of children’s books. She was an early, enthusiastic reader and during elementary school she frequently went to the Oak Park branch, where the Librarian role captured her imagination. She would play library clerk at home, pretending to check out books to her mom.

During high school, the new Central headquarters branch was her go-to place for books and other resources to complete homework assignments. 

“I grew up in Johnson County Libraries, for sure,” she recalls.

While in college studying elementary education at Ottawa University, she took a part-time job at the Gardner branch as a page in February 2004. That blossomed into her promotion about 18 months later to the position of part-time youth information specialist, a job she has held ever since.

Serving patrons ages 0-18 and their families throughout the system has given Coles an amazingly rich range of experiences over the years.

Highlights include educating children and their parents at Storytimes at Gardner and Blue Valley; working on a team with Youth Librarian Kathy McLellan to develop the award-winning early literacy program “6 By 6 Ready to Read” in 2009; providing Library services and encouragement to youths involved in the county’s juvenile justice system; and mentoring teens since 2011 on the Library’s renowned elementia magazine.

“That’s just been one of the most meaningful experiences,” she said of working with incredibly creative and thoughtful teens. “Being able to listen more and more to the way they want their magazine to be, and the way they want to represent themselves. Seeing that evolve has been wonderful.”

She spends time each week answering questions and assisting people of all ages with book suggestions and other resources. With so many years based at Gardner, she’s watched a generation of kids grow up, to the point where some are now bringing their own children to the branch.

“It’s amazing to think about the ways families need Libraries over and over throughout their lives,” she says.

In her spare time, Coles plays the ukulele, at Storytimes and with friends. She discovered the instrument in 2012 when Johnson County Library bought several for staff to use. 

“That has been a source of comfort and joy and gratitude,” she said. “It occupies your whole mind and body.”

She also loves to cook and is an endlessly curious reader, tackling intimidating tomes like “Moby Dick” and “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” She’s currently making her way through “Ulysses,” and finding it magnificent.

She’s mom to Felix, 13, and Poppy, 11, and is very involved in their school, theater and sports activities. They, too, are big readers and have used the Gardner Library their entire young lives.

For Coles, Johnson County Library is so much more than her employer. It’s a cherished community hub, a place for education and enrichment, and the family’s home away from home.