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Library OnDemand – Available anytime you like.

KC Covid Art Recession: Who thrived, who survived, who still needs help?– Tuesday, Aug. 22, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.

Join us at Central Resource Library for a town hall discussion led by a panel of art leaders whose organizations and artists thrived, survived and still need help in recovering from the art recession. In 2020, KC Rising reported that of 24 industries, the arts had the greatest downturn and will take the longest to recover. Let’s help the arts recover with our support and ideas. This program is presented in partnership with GUILDit, whose mission is engage, educate, and empower art entrepreneurialism.

Tabletop Games – Tuesday, Aug. 22, 6:00 – 7:45 p.m.

Join us at Monticello Library 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.

Two Chapters Book Club – Wednesday, Aug. 23, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Come read with us at Central Resource Library! A librarian will read aloud the initial chapters of a favorite book and you can decide to check out a copy to take home if you like it. If the chapters are short, we might sample more. We'll have snacks and activities related to the book as well. Let's read together. Ages 7-11.

Open Mic – Friday, Aug. 25, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Johnson County Library is teaming up with Bear Necessities Coffee Bar (9609 W 87th St, Overland Park, KS 66212) to bring you an Open Mic from 6:30 – 7:30pm on the 4th Friday of every month. Bring poems, short stories, essays, and excerpts to share on the stage. Or come just to listen. We’ll feature readings from our contest winners and the rest of the time is for you.

Sign up at the event, 3-minute limit.

Johnson County Genealogical Society Monthly Meeting – Saturday, Aug. 26, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Enjoy a genealogy program and visit with JCGS members about your research and family history. Free and open to the public. Meets in the Carmack Room at Central Resource Library.

This month’s topic is Civil War Medicine: Local and National Surgeries and Medical Treatments of the Mid-Nineteenth Century - Sarah Bader-King, Curator and Director of Programs, Wornall/Majors House Museums

And much more happening this week … 

Johnson County Library is teaming up with Bear Necessities Coffee Bar (9609 W 87th St, Overland Park, KS 66212) to bring you an Open Mic from 6:30–7:30 p.m. on the 4th Friday of every month. Bring poems, short stories, essays, and excerpts to share on the stage. Or come just to listen. We’ll feature readings from our contest winners and the rest of the time is for you.

August's event is on Friday Aug. 25, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Sign up at the event, 3-minute limit.

The true-crime thriller centers on Jane “Jolly Jane” Toppan, an amiable nurse-turned-serial killer in 19th-century Boston.

But as an opera, you won’t find “The Murderess” on the shelves of the Johnson County Library However, you can find the composer, Allison McIntosh, working as an information specialist at the Gardner Library.

McIntosh collaborated with librettist/playwright Trip Venturella. The Landlocked Opera staged two performances of “The Murderess” in July at the Simpson House in Kansas City, Missouri.

A three-story mansion built in 1909, the Simpson House was a perfect setting for the opera. Audiences followed the action as it shifted from the large front room, then to a foyer by the staircase and back to the front room.

“The audience seemed really receptive to it,” McIntosh said. “They seemed to enjoy it, so I'm really happy with how it went.”

McIntosh, 29, has had her music performed around the country, including by the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra in Grand Teton National Park and Washington Masters Chorale in Washington, D.C. But “The Murderess” is her first opera, which she wrote for her dissertation while earning a musical arts doctorate from the University of Kansas. She met Venteruella in Lawrence.

Building an opera around Toppan, whom one author described as the “most prolific fiend” in an era of “vicious female sociopaths,” was not as far-fetched as it might appear, McIntosh said. The idea emerged from brainstorming with friends who were true-crime aficionados.

“Opera is often about larger-than-life characters, and of course, opera is extremely dramatic typically,” McIntosh said. “So anything that can create high drama can be a good subject for an opera.”

Similarly, McIntosh said, a composer is not an odd fit for an information specialist — especially for one like McIntosh, who also teaches remote music composition classes for Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri.

“Music has taught me to be creative, and that comes up a lot at the Library, whether it's making displays, or creative problem solving with patrons,” she said.

McIntosh also utilizes her teaching skills by working with staff as part of the Library’s reader advisory classes and gets the opportunity to “scratch the research itch” when patrons have complicated questions.

She had a terrific experience recently when a display she built using old video games captivated a young visitor to the Gardner Library, who was thrilled to meet the creator when McIntosh happened to be working the desk. The boy showed McIntosh his Pokémon collection and seemed ready to talk with her about video games for the rest of the day.

McIntosh wants to keep her hand in opera and would like to write her own at some point to continue telling women’s stories that, she said, are underrepresented in opera.

As a native of Idaho, and as someone who did a lot of her college work in Boston, McIntosh was not necessarily looking to stay in the Midwest upon completing her doctorate. McIntosh would love to someday be a professor of composition and music theory at a small liberal arts college.

She’s now almost two years into her role at the Library, and she enjoys the tight-knit staff and community in Gardner. “It’s just a really happy place to work,” she said.

Have you ever read something and wondered, how did this author know my story so well? Dawn Downey is such an author. Her love of people and love of writing go hand-in-hand. It comes as no surprise when Dawn explains in one of her blog posts, “I write to spread kindness.” Her compassion for her readers and her love of craft both shine in her work. 

In addition to an active online presence on her blog, Dawn has published four books of essays: Stumbling Toward the Buddha: Stories about Tripping over My Principles on the Road to Transformation, From Dawn to Daylight, Searching For My Heart: essays about love, and Blindsided: Essays from the Only Black Woman in the Room, a 2022 Book of the Year Finalist from Independent Author Network.

Dawn’s passion for writing is deeply intertwined with a passion for mindfulness and spirituality. She practices yoga every morning before pen hits paper. Dawn spends most of her time participating in craft workshops that aim to amplify marginalized voices, something she is deeply passionate about. She currently lives in Kansas City with her husband.

We are pleased to announce that Dawn Downey will be presenting a lecture with her editing partner and Writers Conference veteran, Jessica Conoley, on developmental editing. 

We look forward to seeing you Nov. 2-4 to write, network, and talk books with us! You can register to attend the Nov. 2 Kickoff here and you can register for both days of the Writers Conference here. For the Conference, your RSVP is for both days and sessions will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.

You can catch up with Dawn on her blog here, and you can also keep up with her on her Youtube channel here.

We asked Dawn a few questions inspired by this year’s conference book, By the Book: Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from The New York Times Book Review, to get to know her better:

1. What's in your TBR pile? 

Abaddon's Gate by James Corey; Hunger by Roxane Gay; The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

1. What are you reading right now? 

Soil by Camille T. Dungy; Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis

1. Do you have a favorite book you love to recommend? 

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow

1. Do you have a favorite bookstore? 

BLK+BRWN

1. Answer the question you wish we had asked.

What do you want to tell other writers? Be kind to yourself.

Jessica Conoley has been on the faculty of our Writers Conference for years for a reason: attendees love her. They relate to her, respect her, and consistently tell us that her sessions are full of information, interesting, and engaging.

And that’s no surprise to anyone who’s spent any time with Jessica. She’s not only an accomplished writer and creative careers coach; she’s curious about others and genuinely interested in seeing people live their dream.

Jessica founded and leads The Creative’s Apprentice, where she provides step-by-step, easily implementable mindset and educational guidance so creatives can stop worrying about all of the “business stuff they’re supposed to do” and focus on the creative work they love to do.

We are pleased to announce that this year Jessica will be partnering with her editing partner, Dawn Downey, to teach a class on developmental editing. 

We look forward to seeing you Nov. 2-4 to write, network, and talk books with us! You can register to attend the Nov. 2 Kickoff here and you can register for both days of the Writers Conference here. For the Conference, your RSVP is for both days and sessions will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.

You can keep up with Jessica by visiting her website (linked above) or on Instagram and Twitter at @thecreativesapp.

We asked Jessica a few questions inspired by this year’s conference book, By the Book: Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from The New York Times Book Review, to get to know her better:

1. What's in your TBR pile? 

Dirty Laundry: Why Adults w/ADHD are so ashamed & what we can do to help by Roxanne Emery & Richard Pink; Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros.

2. What are you reading right now? 

The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind & Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van der Kolk; Exhalation by Ted Chiang

3. Do you have a favorite book you love to recommend? 

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

4. Do you have a favorite bookstore? 

Blk + Brwn 

5. Answer the question you wish we had asked.

My favorite word is EGG