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Have you enjoyed the chess sets at Lenexa City Center Library? Our staff there often indulge in a game of chess on their work breaks.

Improve your game with online resources and live chess tutoring from Brainfuse HelpNow or stream "How To Play Chess" from The Great Courses on Kanopy, available with your Library card!

People who have been incarcerated or who require Johnson County Community Corrections supervision often need help with re-entry into normal life, including finding jobs, mental health therapy, educational opportunities or other community services. In answering that crucial need, the Johnson County Corrections Department and Johnson County Library have teamed up to offer monthly Community Resource Fairs at Central Resource Library. These one-stop shops provide access to a host of vital agencies and referrals on the road to successful re-entry.

The Central branch, 9875 W. 87th St., hosted its first resource fair Dec. 13 in the Carmack Room, with about 25 or 30 agencies and about 25 clients. It went so well that future gatherings are planned the second Tuesday of every month in 2023. 

“It’s just another great partnership with Corrections and Johnson County Library,” said Incarcerated Services Librarian Melody Kinnamon, who has worked closely with Corrections for five years to connect justice-involved clients with Library services. “Why the Library loves it, of course, is we get people into the Library. We want to connect with them and let them know all about what we can do with them.”

The idea first surfaced last year with Corrections officials who wanted to provide a central gathering space to build relationships among the agencies and clients. They quickly outgrew a large conference room at Lenexa’s Corrections location on West 87th Street, so approached Kinnamon for options. “We chose the Library because it provides a neutral atmosphere,” said Stacy Wilmes, senior case manager with Corrections. “It’s so supportive. If you walk in, you will see there are a lot of people in our community with a passion to help. If we offer this opportunity, we may be able to help identify and fill gaps that Corrections alone can’t.” 

Wilmes said she worked with a team of about eight colleagues on this important project. They want to provide sustained support and encouragement, breaking down barriers for people overcoming significant challenges. Clients are often under felony supervision and may be dealing with the aftermath of domestic violence or substance abuse offenses.  “We’re looking at long-term, generational change,” Wilmes said, adding that many clients don’t realize what the Library and other community partners offer.

Wilmes and her colleagues greet the clients at these fairs and personally connect them with providers to address their needs, such as community college courses, job training, volunteer mentors, medical and dental care, school opportunities for their children, and housing and transportation referrals. Providers also connect with each other in positive ways. “We really build on these relationships,” Wilmes said. Client testimonials say the events exceeded their expectations. They felt welcomed and valued. 

“It was convenient to have this all at one place,” wrote one client.

“It was a lot more helpful than I thought it was going to be,” wrote another client. “I don’t feel like I was just another person there. I actually felt like they all cared about bettering my life and not just trying to sign me up for random stuff.”

Wilmes said research shows that access to these types of quality referrals greatly improves the chances for long-term, successful behavioral change. Kinnamon believes Central Library is ideally located for this collaboration. It’s also a place where these justice-involved individuals were able to discover the MakerSpace, view art on the walls and get Library cards and an introduction to many online services.

“It was a great way for me to tell them about all the things we do for free,” she said. “Now, they are in this wonderful learning, exploring environment that is the Library.”

Our librarian Courtney wrote a review of the card game Dixit!

I am a decidedly un-strategic tabletop game player. I’ve been known to choose my moves based on how fun they seem, or how much of a chain reaction I can cause, or (quite frequently) because the art on that particular card is interesting. Dixit is a game designed for people who revel in cards with interesting art on them. There are several flavors and versions of Dixit, but all of them come with a deck of large cards, each depicting a surreal, beautiful and perplexing story of its own. 

In Dixit, players take turns playing the part of storyteller by choosing a card from their hand and telling a short story about it. The story can be just a couple words, a pop culture quote, song lyrics, or a lush and descriptive paragraph of prose. The goal is to tell a story that’s specific enough that some people will know which card it describes, but enigmatic enough that some of the other players will guess incorrectly. 

After you choose your card and tell your story, the other players choose a card from their hand that they think also fits the story you’ve told. All the cards are shuffled together, and the players (except the storyteller) vote on which is the most likely to be the card chosen by the storyteller. If everyone or nobody guesses correctly, the storyteller gets no points. If some people guess correctly, both the storyteller and the other players whose cards were chosen receive points for that round. 

I could probably spend an enjoyable half-hour just looking through a deck of Dixit cards. But I also love this game because it uses a creative part of my brain that I don’t get to employ in a lot of other games. It’s best with a large number of people (it can accommodate three to eight players, and I’d say it’s best at four or more), so it’s a go-to choice for me when my family gets together. Dixit is a fun, interactive and casual game that anyone can play, as long as they can make up a story.

If you'd like to learn and play games like this, join us at an upcoming Tabletop Games event! Details and dates here. 

Our librarians will be featuring Dixit! at the upcoming Tabletop Games event at Gardner Library on March 7!

Come play some games with us, friends and family!

Library OnDemand – Available anytime you like

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

READ to a Dog with Pets for Life –

Monday, Feb. 6, 3:30 – 5 p.m. – at the Leawood Pioneer Library.

Tuesday, Feb. 7, 3:30 – 5 p.m. – at the Antioch Library.

Wednesday, Feb. 8, 3:30 – 5 p.m. – at the Central Resource Library.

Thursday, Feb. 9, 3:30 – 5 p.m. – at the Monticello Library.

The Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.) program improves children’s reading and communication skills by employing a powerful method: reading to a registered therapy dog or cat! These animals volunteer with their owner/handlers as a team. Please note that space is limited for this program; kids will get a ticket at arrival and wait their turn to read to one of several dogs.

Tabletop Games – Tuesday, Feb. 7, 6 – 7:45 p.m.

Join us for a fun-filled evening at the Gardner Library with family members and friends, old and new, and become a part of the Johnson County tabletop gaming community. Kids, teens and adults can enjoy a variety of games together, including collaborating to escape the Forbidden Island, getting creative with a round of Dixit, or strategizing their way to victory as King of Tokyo! Discover and learn new games from our collection or bring your personal favorite to share. Come and go as you please. Refreshments are provided. This month, our gaming librarians will feature a family-friendly game, “Apples to Apples, Jr.” and teach you how to play it!

Legislative Coffee – Saturday, Feb. 11, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.

Discover what’s percolating in the Kansas Legislature. Representatives and Senators with constituents in Johnson County will discuss the new legislative session, followed by Q&A. You bring the questions; we provide the coffee and doughnuts. Registration is not required to attend in-person at the Blue Valley Library. Register to attend virtually via YouTube.

Attendees will include:

• Senator Cindy Holscher, District 8
• Representative Dan Osman, District 48
• Representative Heather Meyer, District 29

Tween Book Club – Saturday, Feb. 11, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

If you’re age 9-13 and enjoy reading, this program is for you! Let’s get together at the Leawood Pioneer Library to read new books, discuss ideas and characters, and meet other book lovers. We read a different book each session and the February title is “The Magical Imperfect” by Chris Baron and staff will lead the group in a discussion about the book. Participants can pick up the following month’s book at each book club discussion or at the Youth Services desk after each book club discussion while supplies last.

And much more happening this week …

Johnson County Library strives to provide materials and activities that will be particularly appealing to teen patrons. Its Young Adult Literary Councils are a major part of that outreach. They are an excellent way for patrons ages 12-19 to share favorite books and help plan fun events such as author visits and game days. Participants meet other Johnson County teens and receive volunteer credit hours for their time. They can even pick up advanced copies of teen books to read and review before publication, for the Young Adult Library Services Association.

During the pandemic, an online system-wide Young Adult Literary Council kept some teens engaged and involved. But in 2023, the councils resume meeting in-person at Lenexa City Center, Blue Valley, Monticello and Gardner. Staffers are eager to welcome them back.

For Gardner Youth Information Specialist Matt Imrie and for Monticello Youth Information Specialist Jordan Young, this is an ideal chance to involve young patrons in the life of the Library, lending their energy, creativity and enthusiasm. It’s mutually beneficial for the teens and the Library system. “It’s to keep young people engaged in the Library and to give them a sense of ownership. It gets them involved in planning events for the Library, for the groups themselves and other people that might be interested,” Imrie said. “I’ve found through past experience that young people, if it’s something that’s theirs, they are more interested.”

Young agreed. “I’m really excited to start this opportunity again,” he said. “We have a great group of teens at Monticello and we have lots of fun ideas for what the program can be. I’m excited to see what they come up with.” Both Imrie and Young bring valuable prior experience working with teens and have a passion for this project. 

Imrie’s Library career extends back more than 25 years, including stints from South Africa to the United Kingdom, and much of that work involved teens. Since 2006, he has run his own blog website focused on Libraries and teens, with all sorts of book lists and reader interaction. He has been a youth information specialist at Gardner for about four years, establishing positive relationships with many families. He has spoken to a number of patrons about YALC, including some home-school parents, and interest is spreading.

Gardner’s YALC will meet the third Saturday of each month, from 2-3 p.m., through April. Reservations aren’t necessary and participants can just show up.

Young has theater experience and was very involved in running teen programming years ago at the Yorba Linda Public Library in California. He was hired as a Johnson County Library clerk in 2018 and helped open the Lenexa branch. He became a youth information specialist at Monticello in November 2020 and discovered that branch has a very strong teen patron base. They attend nearby schools and flock to the Library after school. They fill the study rooms and are avid readers. Young helped Monticello resume its in-person teen volunteer program, which went really well in summer 2022. He also worked with the online YALC, in which teen participants planned a game/book celebration event at Blue Valley Library that attracted over 100 attendees in 2022.

Monticello’s YALC will meet the fourth Wednesday of each month, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., through April. Young will run it with help from Jeni Cosgrove. Lenexa’s YALC will meet the second Tuesday of each month, 5-6 p.m. Blue Valley’s will meet the third Sunday of each month, 1-2 p.m.

Young praises Johnson County Library for providing teens this opportunity, “giving them a place to be, giving them leadership experience, and helping them engage with the community.”

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.