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This Week at the Library
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!
Meet the Author: Aimee Nezhukumatahil – Wednesday, Feb. 23, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Aimee Nezhukumatathil is an accomplished poet, essayist and first-ever poetry editor for Sierra magazine. Aimee will read from her work, share stories from her writing life and answer questions about where nature and writing intersect.
Meet the Author: Gordon Korman – Thursday, Feb. 24, 4:30-5:30 p.m.
Gordon Korman is a New York Times bestselling author of more than ninety books for kids and young adults, most recently Linked and Operation Do-Over, published in January 2022. His writing career began at the age of twelve when his seventh grade English assignment became his first published novel. He will talk about where ideas come from, his two genres of humor and adventure, and what it was like to grow up publishing books for kids.
How to Adjust Your Finances for Retirement Living – Thursday, Feb. 24, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
We are retiring earlier and living longer, which is great news from a personal standpoint. However, that good news may be tempered by some harsh financial realities. Emerson Hartzler, retired business executive and pro bono financial advisor, will outline practical ways to manage your lifestyle expenses and long-term investments so that you continue to enjoy all of your retirement years.
Legislative Coffee Series – Saturday, Feb. 26, 10-11 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!
- Senator Dinah Sykes, District 21
- Representative Lindsay Vaughn, District 22
- Representative Dan Osman, District 48
- Representative Linda Featherston, District 16
February is Black History Month
"Time for Change: Action Not Words" is the theme for the 2023 Black History Month. Johnson County Library has so many resources it might be hard to choose which to read, listen to, or participate in, so it’s good we get to celebrate all month long. Black History Month begins today, Feb. 1 and ends March 1.
Photo courtesy of the Worcester Art Museum
Get Started with Primary Sources
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Associated Press Collections Online – Includes news coverage on Martin Luther King, Jr., Freedom Riders, desegregation, voting rights and more.
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American Civil Liberties Union Papers – 20th century ACLU records focusing on race, civil rights and more.
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Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive – Documents and research guides related to the history of slavery, abolition and emancipation.
Local History
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The Legacy of Corinthian Nutter – Learn about the major contributions Ms. Nutter made in Webb v. School District 90 (located in Merriam, KS), which ended segregation five years before Brown v. the Board of Education.
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JoCo History Collections - Historical photographs and maps documenting the people, places and organizations of Johnson County.
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Olathe’s early African-American community –Kansas’ anti-slavery legacy offered a fresh start for many former slaves and their families after the Emancipation Proclamation.
Watch
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African-American Stories on Kanopy – Hundreds of films, documentaries, and series exploring everything from current events to the history and cultural legacy of African-Americans.
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The Past is Prologue - A series of programs featuring topics that were often left out, glossed over or misrepresented in our history books, such as The Kansas City Monarchs and the Negro National League , Corinthian Nutter and the South Park School, and The Town of Nicodemus, KS
Read
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Celebrate 100 Years of the Negro Leagues - 2020 marked the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues – learn about its development, players, and legacy.
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Read More Black Authors: Kids and Teens – Celebrate Black voices with this collection of both fiction and non-fiction titles for younger readers.
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Upbeat Black History Month – A collection of uplifting African-American stories from throughout our country's history, with an emphasis on the underknown.
Automated sorter installed at the Friends' Pine Ridge facility
Automated sorter installed at the Friends' Pine Ridge facility
Automated sorter installed at the Friends' Pine Ridge facility
Sorter Installed at Pine Ridge for Friends Use
Late last year, an automated sorter was installed at the Friends of Johnson County Library's Pine Ridge facility. The automated materials handling (AMH) unit will help Friends staff and volunteers sort donations efficiently and quickly by type and salability. The Friends thank all at the Library who aided in this process.
Help us use our new Sorter! We're accepting donations of gently used items at our weekly Drop Off events at Pine Ridge Office Park near 87th and I-35. Check the Friends website for location and schedule details!
Look Into Lenexa's Past
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: Lenexa Historical Society
About this collection: This collection is comprised of over 3,500 images relating to the history, development and people of Lenexa, Kansas. Particular strengths include area construction projects, photos of the Legler Barn Museum, the Lenexa Centennial celebration of 1969 and early landowners. The photographs were collected and maintained by the Lenexa Historical Society, who are headquartered at the Legler Barn Museum in Sar Ko Par Park.
Meet the Author: Aimee Nezhukumatathil
With three collections, an NEA poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Pushcart Prize, a Mississippi Arts Council grant, and being named a Guggenheim Fellow in poetry, you might say Aimee Nezhukumatathil is at the top of her poetry game.
Join us for these upcoming programs with the award-winning poet.
Meet the Author: Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Wednesday, Feb. 23, 6:30 p.m.
Register »
Nature Writing with Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Saturday, Feb. 26, 9 a.m.
Register »
Come Discover our New Kids Area at Central Resource Library
This time lapse video, shot over the course of 24 days with four cameras, shows the beautifully complex, coordinated and choregraphed dance involved in moving our collection into the newly relocated and expanded Kids Area at Central Resource Library! What changes await you to discover?
- Brand new shelving
- More natural light with wonderful views of Strang Park
- Window seating
- A storytime room
- And so much more!
So, do you have a minute? Come discover the transformation! It's almost an entire month in one minute.
This Week at the Library
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!
Martin Luther King, Jr Lecture Series: Journalist Yamiche Alcindor – Tuesday, Feb. 15, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
This year UMKC's Martin Luther King Jr lecture series features Yamiche Alcindor, the moderator of Washington Week, White House correspondent for the PBS NewsHour, and a political contributor for NBC News and MSNBC.
RESCHEDULED: Caregiver Workshop: Power of Nature-Based Play with Rosanna Munoz – Wednesday, Feb. 16, 7-8 p.m.
Whether it's finding activities to keep them busy or understanding what's going on inside their heads, being a caregiver of young children can be challenging. Each month's caregiver workshop explores a different topic to support and enrich relationships between kids age birth to 6 and their caregivers.
Maintain Your Ride – Thursday, Feb. 17, noon-1:30 p.m.
DIY bike maintenance made simple! Get your hands dirty and learn to keep your bike in tip-top shape with this FREE virtual class from Johnson County Library and BikeWalkKC. Our instructors will teach you how to keep your bike in good working order with a few basic tools and some practical know-how.
Legislative Coffee Series – Saturday, Feb. 19, 10-11 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!
- Senator Pat Pettey, District 6
- Senator Mike Thompson, District 10
- Representative Jerry Stogsdill, District 21
- Senator Cindy Holscher, District 8
Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture Series: Journalist Yamiche Alcindor
Johnson County Library is honored to partner with the Division of Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Missouri, Kansas City on their annual Martin Luther King Jr. lecture series. The lecture series honors Martin Luther King's tremendous contributions to furthering civil rights by featuring national thought leaders, who provide insight and advocacy to current civil rights issues of education, economic and justice system inequalities.
This year the series features Yamiche Alcindor, the moderator of Washington Week, White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour, and a political contributor for NBC News and MSNBC.
Tuesday, Feb. 15
6:30 p.m.
Register »
This event is sponsored by UMKC Division of Diversity and Inclusion and the Johnson County Library.
Patron Spotlight: Dawn Kelly
Dawn Kelly, of Fairway, signed up for HomeConnect several years ago, even before the COVID pandemic. HomeConnect is a Johnson County Library service giving patrons access to Library resources in their homes. She has come to appreciate the service all the more as the pandemic has made getting out in public more risky. She says it’s been a link to brilliant Johnson County Librarians, and she’s been amazed at the “smashing” books, CDs, DVDs and other materials they’ve uncovered for her.
“I have found so many obscure items through Interlibrary Loan,” she said. “It’s absolutely ridiculous the things the Librarians have worked with me to find.”
She’s received behind-the-scenes information about movies she’s watched, and even got a rare Frank Zappa vinyl record.
“That’s the type of treasure that the Library has,” Dawn said. “You just have to be willing to seek it out. You have to be curious and aware.”
Patrons interested in HomeConnect fill out an application and can then request items by calling 913-826-4600. All sorts of Library materials can be mailed directly to them. Dawn marvels at this convenience that brings the world to her home, with “no traveling except for walking out to my mailbox.”
Dawn has had a lifelong love of Libraries, since she was six years old in 1966 and a Library bookmobile showed up regularly in her Louisville, Kentucky neighborhood.
“That’s where the early seeds were planted,” she says. “If you borrowed, you were very motivated to get that done so the next week you could gather up some more.”
She lived with a sister in Fairway for a time and graduated from Shawnee Mission West High School.
She got a fine arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute, with a concentration in multimedia. She met the love of her life, who was also an artist.
The couple moved to the Kansas City area, where Dawn’s parents had relocated. She bought a house in Fairway, and also got a Johnson County Library card in 1987.
She worked for many years in the family businesses, which included The Good Earth, a natural grocery store, in Prairie Village. Her significant other passed away in 1997 and she retired a few years ago.
Over the years, Dawn was a regular at Corinth. “A big thing for me was when books were put on audio. I was doing a lot of driving. I had show dogs, and was driving to all types of remote areas,” she recalled. “I could put an audio tape on and learn all about something or someone.”
In 1993 she kept track of everything she read or listened to that year; it came to 165 books.
Later she began frequenting Cedar Roe, where she also got to know the Librarians well. One Valentine’s Day, she even made a huge poster to display outside Cedar Roe, sharing her appreciation with the message “Remember to (Heart) Your Librarian.”
It was the Cedar Roe Librarians who alerted her to HomeConnect.
“It’s very ingenious. It’s a zipper pouch,” she said, describing how items are sent postage paid, with the Library return address also provided postage paid. She looks with great anticipation into the pouch “to see the goodies and what they’ve scored for me.”
Dawn has found a particularly meaningful way to give back and pay forward all the enrichment and wonderful relationships she’s enjoyed. She has arranged for half her estate to go to Johnson County Library.
“I think that is to say how extensive I feel about the Library,” she said, “and how much I revere the people working there.”