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Time Travel to 1953: The Library’s History Runs Deep in Shawnee
If you want to know how the Shawnee library got its start, you’ll have to travel back 65 years to a charming little school house. It was there, on June 3, 1953, that the Shawnee Volunteer Library opened in the Dunbar School at 57th Street and Reeder Road. Although the library only stayed in that location for a few years, there is something about its start in a sweet little school house that adds a layer of historical richness to the Shawnee branch. Read more at JoCoHistory »
Books to Go!
We've got Books to Go kits on a lot of topics, so when you're in a hurry to grab some fun reading and activities for your little ones, we've got your back! Books to Go kits include audiobooks, books, activity suggestions and more all in one. Whether your little one's current obsessions is weather, opposites, or bugs, we've got those fun topics and many more!
Did you hear that Libraries rock?
We partnered with the Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center and all summer we've brought you some pretty impressive free concerts! In case you missed Local Music Live: Rewound this past Friday, fear not! We will post the full concert a month from now. In the meantime, here is the full concert from last month: Local Music Live: Duncan Burnett! Enjoy!
Did you hear about Movie in the Park?
Library event coordinator Joseph Keehn talks about Movie in the Park. He gets quizzed on his knowledge about Mary Poppins, Cabaret and just how many movies star Kevin Bacon!
Be sure to get all of the Movie in the Park dates into your calendar!
"Did you hear?" is where you'll find all things audio that we produce here at the Library. That might be Librarians talking about upcoming events, guest speakers, interviews with your favorite authors, or live local music recorded at one of our branches.
National Book Lovers Day
Fall in love with your favorite book all over again! Or, discover a new book that you just won’t be able to put down. Johnson County Library has the collection and the experts to help you find whatever you’re looking for.
- Find out what We Recommend
- You'll always pick a winner with our Staff Picks
- Recent lists, reviews, ratings, tags? Check all Recent Activity
- Explore New Titles
- See what's winning Awards
- Good? It certainly has sold a lot! See the Bestsellers
There's something for everyone. Make National Book Lovers Day a holiday!
We Have a Winner! Several, In Fact.
The Writers Place, Uptown Arts Bar, Rainy Day Books… our metro community boasts many superb venues where writers can share their work. Our favorite is – no surprise – Johnson County Library.
It’s no wonder we love our Library as a home for authors. Since September 2015 Johnson County Library has provided monthly writing contests and we couldn’t be more proud of the results. Check out our past winners here, or come hear local poet Natasha Ria El-Scari introduce four of our recent winners on Wednesday, August 15th at 6 pm at Leawood Pioneer Library. Annie Newcomer won in the open category for the theme Build a Better World with her poem Caregivers. Marcia Hurlow, Kristin Pitts and Lisa Allen all won under the Ain’t it the Truth theme. Marcia Hurlow won with her poem Maps; Kristin Pits with her short story Last Night; and Lisa Allen won in the Open Category with her poem Adoration.
Our current theme is Music, followed by Women’s Voices in the Fall. There is no cost to enter and winners receive a $200 honorarium and an opportunity to read at a library or Writers Place event. Contests are cosponsored by the Johnson County Library Foundation and The Writers Place. Enter our contest now »
Monticello Library Opens!
A brand new Library has opened in Johnson County, and you’re invited to check it out!
The Monticello Library stands elegantly at 22435 W. 66th Street in Shawnee, KS and is the first new library location in the County since 1994. Design for Monticello Library benefitted from extensive public input and deep analysis of evolving needs for Library services in the 21st century. Scott Sime, project coordinator for the library system, said comments from residents have consistently centered around needs for meeting space, a robust children’s area and availability of diverse technology for public use.
“We haven’t built a brand-new library building since the 1990s, so it’s been a good opportunity for us to really think through what a library of the 21st century can be,” said Sime.
The Clark Enersen Partners of Lincoln, NE are the project architects, and local firm McCownGordon Construction helped bring the building to life. The two-story, 30,000+ square foot building features floor-to-ceiling glass along three sides designed to let in lots of natural light and to be stylishly visible to those driving by on Shawnee Mission Parkway. Total project cost is $18.1 million.
The Library and County identified a site in 2010, and the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System made a generous donation of adjoining land to provide adequate parking.
The building’s interior incorporates flexible spaces and design strategies so it can adapt to future uses and public needs without requiring physical expansion.
The first floor features a dramatic central stair, self-checkout stations, new books and materials as well as a large area for children’s materials and programming. There is lots of cozy seating available along the windows, study rooms, an area for DVDs, magazines and other media and a large meeting room to seat up to 100 people. View a PDF of the floor plan tour here.
The second floor hosts adult fiction and nonfiction areas, teen materials, public computers including Mac workstations, one conference room and several additional study rooms. An ecologically sensitive green roof adjoins a terrace with ample seating.
Dinner with Joshua Mohr
Want to chat with a bestselling author over dinner? You and a friend could win - read on for details on how!
Johnson County Library is pleased to host author Joshua Mohr in September. He’ll conduct writing workshops and book discussions, and present a Meet the Author event. One of our lucky patrons will win an opportunity to dine with Joshua at Q39 on Saturday, September 15th. It could be you! Tell us in 1000 words or less why Joshua should eat dinner with you and your bestie. He’ll choose the winner from all submissions. Submit your essay here.
"Joshua Mohr is no stranger to second chances. In his memoir Sirens he recounts his journey from addiction to recovery to relapse and back again, and the experience of suffering three strokes in his 30s, the last of which reveals that he has an 8-millimeter hole in his heart. Mohr's prose is lean and scrappy — a featherweight boxer that packs a punch... He speaks with as much fluency about literary structure as he does about tattoos and punk rock. 'I'm not afraid to bare all,' Mohr says, and that while writing this memoir he found himself 'clinging to the capital-T truth...' " Agatha French, Los Angeles Times
Joshua Mohr is the author of the memoir Sirens (2017), as well as five novels including Damascus, which The New York Times called "Beat-poet cool." His work Some Things that Meant the World to Me was one of O Magazine's Top 10 reads of 2009. Termite Parade was an Editors' Choice in The New York Times. His novel All This Life won the Northern California Book Award.