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Library OnDemand – Available anytime you like. 

Outdoor Family Storytime at Lenexa Farmers Market – Tuesdays, June 20 & 27, 9:30-10 a.m.

Help your child discover the joys of reading and develop early literacy skills at Storytime. Join us for a fun outdoor Storytime at Lenexa Farmers Market! Hearing stories is a great way to spend time with your kids and help them foster a love of reading. Stories, songs, fingerplays and movement activities foster pre-reading skills. Fun for the whole family!

Make It All Together Now – Wednesday, June 21, 1-3 p.m.

Join us for a drop-in MakerSpace project at the Gardner Library. Flex those STEAM muscles, learn new maker skills, and have fun with this project presented by the Library Maker team. Come, make something with us, and take home a finished project. This walk-in program is open to all and supplies will be provided. Participants will complete the same project each week

Let’s Stick Together – A Celebration of Music & Family with Mr. Stinky Feet – Thursday, June 22, 1-2 p.m.

Join award-winning kid rocker and author, Jim “Mr. Stinky Feet” Cosgrove at the Central Resource Library, as he celebrates 25 years of uniting communities through music. It’s a rockin’ dance party for the whole family. Check out Jim’s music and books at www.jimcosgrove.com

Open Mic – Friday, June 23, 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.

All Together Now Concert with MISTER G   – Saturday, June 24, 10-10:45 a.m.

Let’s celebrate World Music Day (June 21) at Central Resource Library with Latin Grammy award-winning artist MISTER G. MISTER G tours internationally, engaging audiences of all ages with his dynamic, interactive, bilingual performances aimed to dissolve borders and foster cross-cultural connections. Also an author, MISTER G has published numerous picture books based on his original songs.

Author Meet and Greet with MISTER G – Saturday, June 24, 11-11:45 a.m.

Latin Grammy Award Winning artist MISTER G will be presenting his new book We'll Make Things Better Together followed by a book signing at the Central Resource Library. The first 50 families in attendance will receive a FREE copy of the book. Additional books will be available to purchase at the event.

And much more happening this week … 

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.

What’s better than one beloved author coming to the Library to talk about books and sign their newest book just for you? 

Three beloved authors coming to the Library!

Thursday, July 13, 2023
6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Monticello Library

Best-selling authors Julie Murphy, Sarah Henning and Natalie C. Parker aren’t just acclaimed writers with new books either just released or coming out soon. They’re also friends—and two of them (Sarah Henning and Natalie C. Parker) live in Lawrence. Sarah Henning’s library growing up was a Johnson County Library location (she grew up in Overland Park). 

All three have new books: Camp Sylvania by Murphy, The Devouring Wolf by Parker and Monster Camp by Henning. The themes of their newest books intertwine in so many ways: there are camps and monsters and vampires and werewolves...so it follows that their event on July 13, 2023, at our Monticello branch will be wacky, campy and scary. 

OK, not exactly scary (even though elements of their books are). This will be an event that showcases three remarkably talented authors who also planned this event together not only because their books have some of the same themes, but because their writing experiences have also been similar; while they have all written pretty heavily in the young adult space, they’ve also all expanded into middle grade books. 

This means we don’t know what else, exactly, they’ll talk about past their current releases (there’s not a script for this—they're friends, remember?), we know that it will be fun, interesting and a perfect way to spend a likely hot July evening. 

No need to register for this event. Just come with questions, as there will be time for Q&A after they chat. Copies of their new books will be available for purchase. 

This week at the Library, you can join us at:

Library OnDemand – Available anytime you like. 

Citizenship Class – Tuesday, June 13, 9:30-11 a.m.

Pass the U.S. naturalization interview for citizenship with help from the Library. The free online classes provide coursework focused on the English language, American history, and civics knowledge. Assistance with the initial citizenship application (N400) is also available. Participants review citizenship study materials, practice listening and responding to citizenship interview questions, access online study test and receive guidance throughout the application process. Registration is required. To be added to the series, register for the first-class date only. The classes will be held: Tuesdays: June 6, 13, 20, 27; July 11, 18, 25; August 1, 8, 15. Series of 10 classes.

Outdoor Family Storytime at Lenexa Farmers Market – Tuesdays, June 13, 20 & 27, 9:30 – 10 a.m.

Help your child discover the joys of reading and develop early literacy skills at Storytime. Join us for a fun outdoor Storytime at Lenexa Farmers Market! Hearing stories is a great way to spend time with your kids and help them foster a love of reading. Stories, songs, fingerplays and movement activities foster pre-reading skills. Fun for the whole family!

Make It All Together Now – Wednesday, June 14, 1-3 p.m.

Join us for a drop-in MakerSpace project at the Antioch Library. Flex those STEAM muscles, learn new maker skills, and have fun with this project presented by the Library Maker team. Come, make something with us, and take home a finished project. This walk-in program is open to all and supplies will be provided. Participants will complete the same project each week

The Past is Prologue: Womontown, Kansas City – Thursday, June 15, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

The Past is Prologue is a bimonthly program at Central Resource Library that highlights topics often left out, glossed over, or misrepresented in our history books. For our June topic, artist Sandy Woodson will screen her 30-minute documentary "Womontown" followed by a 30 minute audience Q&A. The documentary first aired in March 2022 and tells the story of an intentional lesbian community that existed in midtown Kansas City in the early 1990s.

Juneteenth Walk and Read – Saturday- Monday, June 10 – June 19, All Day and Anytime

Johnson County Library and Johnson County Park and Recreation Dept. invite you to visit the Juneteenth Walk and Read at Stoll Park. Two stories, Opal Lee and What it Means to Be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth by Alice Faye Duncan and illustrated by Keturah A. Bobo and Change Sings: A Children's Anthem by Amanda Gorman and illustrated by Loren Long. 

And much more happening this week …