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eLearning Spotlight: Brainfuse HelpNow
“Ask for help. Not because you are weak. But because you want to remain strong.”
— Les Brown
Brainfuse HelpNow has several ways to get homework help:
- Live tutoring daily 2 - 11 p.m.
- Writing Lab to get feedback within one business day
- SkillSurfer for study resources and test prep
- Send Question to get a response within one business day
- LEAP to create a customized learning plan
Plus several more tools to collaborate and learn using the website or mobile app.
This resource is generously supported by the Louis and Elizabeth Nave Flarsheim Charitable Foundation.
eResources for Students
Let's face it, if you're reading this, you're probably not a kiddo! But, you know the African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” So, if you have children or you know any school age children, help us spread the word about our bounty of learning materials conveniently located online for easy access! Like what, you ask? How about:
eRESOURCES FOR STUDENTS OF ALL AGES
jocolibrary.org/HomeworkHelp
Biography (Gale In Context): Comprehensive biographies on the world’s most influential people with related content from periodicals and multimedia to provide context.
Brainfuse HelpNow: Live online tutoring daily 2-11 p.m. Professional tutors can guide you through academic subjects from kindergarten through AP and college level classes. Writing Lab to get feedback within one business day. SkillSurfer for study resources and test prep (AP, PSAT, SAT, ACT, ASVAB, GED and citizenship tests.) Send Question to get a response within one business day.
CultureGrams: Explore the culture, history and people of each U.S. state and country of the world. Encyclopedia Britannica: School, Library, Academic, Escolar and Moderna versions of the encyclopedia offer articles for students of all ages.
Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia: Online encyclopedia for students.
Khan Academy: Khan Academy provides a free world-class education for anyone everywhere on topics like math, science, history, economics, humanities, programming and test prep.
LearningExpress Library: Tutorials and quizzes for elementary to adult for a variety of subjects.
Lightbox: Nonfiction eBooks that integrate multimedia into each page.
TOPICsearch: Articles from a variety of national and international newspapers and magazines.
JUST FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
jocolibrary.org/research/homework-help-kids
Kanopy Kids: Curated streaming video collection of children’s programming.
National Geographic Kids: Great for kids interested in science, space, animals, history, geography and fun. Enjoy the full magazine with all the illustrations online.
Primary Search: Articles from popular elementary school magazines.
JUST FOR MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
jocolibrary.org/research/homework-help-teens
Middle Search Plus: Popular magazines for middle and junior high school students.
MAS Ultra – School Edition: Articles from popular magazines and journals for high school students.
Explora: Articles and multimedia covering a wide variety of subjects like biography, business, current events, health, history, literature, science and more. Easy to browse new topics or search for specific information.
NewsBank Hot Topics: Concise summaries of the month’s major news topics with links to relevant newspaper articles, blogs and more.
Primary Sources (Gale): Digital historical documents including books, manuscripts, letters, newspapers, photographs, maps and more ranging across topics of national and global relevance.
These resources will have kids running home from school to study!
Five-Star Staff Pick: The Ogress and the Orphans
Today's five-star staff pick comes from our Librarian Chris, about The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill.
"Social contagion. That's what lies at the heart of this book; that's what this book is about. How thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, and actions spread from one person to another to another and so on. Trust is contagious; when one person behaves trustingly, others respond in kind and the dynamic spreads. Suspicion is contagious; when one person acts from suspicion, others respond in kind and the dynamic spreads. Everything is contagious, spreading socially through networks of people."
Read more of Chris' review or check out the book now.
We Found It In a Book
As you may imagine, many items get returned along with out books. We see bookmarks, receipts, photos, and notes of all kind, and we often don't have a way to find out who they belong to. Here are some examples of the little slices of our patrons' lives that we get to see when we check in returned items.
TV Journalist/Author to Share Insights with Local Writers
Matt Stewart is a well-known Kansas City reporter and anchor with Fox 4. What viewers may not realize is that he has also published four books and is passionate about narrative storytelling. His latest book is Unique Eats and Eateries of Kansas City, profiling Kansas City’s dynamic chefs and restaurants.
Stewart will share his knowledge and insights at Central Resource Library in January and February. It’s a chance to discuss his work and motivate other writers to overcome their fears, sharpen their prose and share their gifts.
“After I published my first book, I had a ton of people writing asking me, ‘How did you do this?’ I shared with them that this was a lifelong dream,” Stewart said. “I hope I can inspire people to take their work and share it with others. People are scared of rejection. But their writing can inspire others and entertain them.”
On Jan. 24, Stewart will join Andrea Broomfield, author of “Iconic Restaurants of Kansas City,” and restaurateur Jasper Mirabile for a conversation. On Jan. 25 he will discuss his writing process and how he turned his hobby into a successful second career. On Feb. 1 and Feb. 4 he will host workshops on crafting convincing dialogue and helping aspiring writers to polish their own work.
“I’m excited to share my story with people,” he said.
Stewart grew up in Omaha, where his mother instilled in him a love of reading and libraries. He attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and began a career in television news. He and his wife Chrissy moved in 2004 to the Kansas City area. They have three teenaged children.
Stewart worked eight years at KCTV Channel 5 and has been with Fox 4 for a decade. Despite a very busy career and family life he has always made time to write, often late at night. For his first book, he took to heart the mantra “write what you know” and realized he had a great story to tell.
He had been a walk-on strong safety for Northwestern’s football team in 1993 and played all four years. During that time, the team went from worst to first in the Big 10. He turned that experience into the memoir “The Walk-On,” offering an insider’s fascinating account of an amazing college football transformation. He couldn’t find a New York publisher but self-published it in 2012. It won sports-writing awards and rave reviews from readers.
He followed that up with a fictional murder mystery (set in a small town TV newsroom) and with a science fiction time-travel novel. Both also won popular acclaim. More information is available at MattStewartBooks.com.
Kansas City author Anne Kniggendorf recommended Stewart to St. Louis-based Reedy Press, which approached him in 2021 to write a Kansas City-focused book. He realized that while people know about Kansas City’s great restaurants, they don’t know the chefs’ incredible untold stories.
“I wanted to put the spotlight on these local chefs, who are so talented and create such amazing meals,” he said.
In promoting the book, Stewart reached out to Johnson County Library. He and his family are avid patrons at the Lenexa City Center branch. He is delighted that the Library programs will highlight both his book and the writer’s craft.
“They wanted to do something unique to really honor this book and the restaurants I profiled,” Stewart said, adding that he’s also eager to encourage other writers. “If I can help people shore up their knowledge and share their work, then that will have been worth my time.”
16 Civil War veterans - 1905
Museum Memories
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 Museum
About this collection: The Johnson County Museum has a wide range of images dating from the late 19th century to the current day. A major focus of the collection centers on individuals and groups of people in domestic, recreational, scholarly and business settings.
Tabletop Games Resumes!
Join us for Tabletop Games in-person beginning in January! Tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan. 4, is our first event at Blue Valley Library, where our librarian Josh will be teaching Forbidden Island.
Offered at Blue Valley Library, Gardner Library, Central Resource Library, and Monticello Library, these monthly events will be fun-filled evenings with family members and friends, old and new. 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.
Cook with eAudiobooks!
Bike with eAudiobooks!
Walk the dog with eAudiobooks!
Jog with eAudiobooks!
Paint with eAudiobooks!
eAudiobooks allow you to multitask!
Are you a multitasker? We have found it's difficult to read a book while also:
- Jogging
- Cooking
- Painting
- Driving
- ...and, well, it's a long list!
Our solution? Checkout our eAudiobooks:
eAudiobooks on Libby
Our largest eAudiobook collection! Listen to popular fiction and nonfiction books for kids, teens and adults.
Naxos Spoken Word Library
Classic fiction and nonfiction streaming audiobooks.
eAudiobooks on cloudLibrary
Great listens! Popular fiction and nonfiction collection provided by the State Library of Kansas.
Listen and multitask! You're welcome.