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It's another beautiful Throwback Thursday and we encourage you to time travel through the history of Johnson County. There is a new JoCoHistory Blog story: Helping Bring the Past into the Future.

The Johnson County Genealogical Society (JCGS) is celebrating its 50th anniversary. As a special 50th anniversary project the JCGS in cooperation with the Johnson County Library has established a free Memory Lab at the Central Resource Library in the genealogy area. JCGS is providing equipment and assistance to help patrons digitize family photos, negatives, slides, 8 mm movies and documents so they may be kept for future generations and easily shared with other family members. This service was seen as a priority since so many older media formats are fragile, degrading or obsolete and require considerable space to store. Those wishing to use the equipment may reserve a 2 ½ hour appointment through the JCGS website to bring in their materials and transfer to USB or other digital media. Detailed instructions will be provided on how to prepare materials prior to the visit, how to use the equipment and save to a digital file. JCGS volunteers will be present at each session to help the users get started. Read the full article at the JoCoHistory Blog website.»

Calling all bikers and artists! We have an open call for a special biking themed art exhibit called The Art of Biking, offered in conjunction with the 2023 Women's Bike Summit happening at the Library this coming Fall. If you're a visual artist in Johnson County or Kansas City metro area, please apply. Deadline for submission is May 15.

Apply now »

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

Library OnDemand – Available anytime you like. 

Pollinator Series – Tuesday, April 25, 2 – 3 p.m.

Bees, butterflies and bats . . . oh my! Spring is here and our regional pollinators are in full flight. Join us at the Gardner Library with Johnson County Master Gardeners for this workshop to learn from the experts exactly what is happening when these animals and insects are flying about. Each participant will receive seeds to help grow more places for pollinators to explore.

Tabletop Games – Tuesday, April 25, 6 – 7:45 p.m.

Join us for a fun-filled evening at the Monticello Library with family members and friends, old and new, and become a part of the Johnson County tabletop gaming community. 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. Our gaming librarians are featuring the game Blokus and will teach you how to play it. 

Elementia issue xx Celebration – Tuesday, April 25, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Celebrate the release of the 20th issue of elementia in person at the Lenexa City Center Library. This issue explores the theme of cycles through teen writing and art. Enjoy art exhibits, refreshments and music and pick up your free copy of elementia at the celebration!

Walk and Read at Wilder Bluff Park – Saturday, April 29 – May 7, All day, anytime

Family and friends of all ages are invited to join Johnson County Library for a walk in a park! Walk and Read creates a reading opportunity for all, in various parks throughout Johnson County. Those who participate will read two stories posted around a path, one going each direction. When you finish one story, you can turn around to the other side of the sign and begin the next story, which will lead you back around the path. The Walk and Read program encourages physical activity, literacy and family time. The paths are stroller and wheelchair friendly, allowing for all to join in the fun! Dates are subject to adjustment due to inclement weather conditions. Look for updated information at jocolibrary.org. Johnson County Library, Shawnee Parks and Recreation and De Soto Parents as Teachers invite you to visit the Walk and Read at Wilder Bluff Park. Two stories, Everybody! You, Me and Us by Elise Gravel and Just Be Jelly by Maddie Frost, will be posted.

And much more happening this week … 

Bees, butterflies and bats . . . oh my! Spring is here and our regional pollinators are in full flight. Join Johnson County Master Gardeners for this workshop to learn from the experts exactly what is happening when these animals and insects are flying about. Each participant will receive seeds to help grow more places for pollinators to explore.

Pollinators Series
Tuesday, April 25, 2 p.m. at Gardner Library
No registration is necessary

One of the amazing features of the new Merriam Plaza Library, now under construction, will be a “green” roof. It’s an environmental innovation that preserves the roof’s lifespan while providing a vibrant native habitat. 

The Merriam branch, 6120 Slater St., will open in 2024, replacing the Antioch branch at 8700 Shawnee Mission Pkwy. Antioch staffers anticipate having a wonderful new space for learning and enrichment. The green roof can be seen from the street and from atop the adjacent parking garage, allowing visitors to experience a prairie landscape changing throughout the year.

“There are a wide variety of native grasses, wildflowers and other species that will really kind of shift and change from season to season,” said Dan Maginn, director of the Kansas City office of Dake Wells Architecture, which designed the building. “Libraries are places where transformation happens. The idea that the building and the landscape itself can transform was really interesting to us.”

Maginn said it’s been great working with Johnson County Library administrators, who challenged the architects to create something unique to the site. Dake Wells collaborated with Confluence, a Kansas City landscape architecture firm, to design a setting welcoming for birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators. 

“It’ll be a little wild,” Maginn said. “It’s not a golf course. It’s really meant to be kind of a native, shaggy environment that’s got a lot of life and change.”  

Antioch staffers saw the green roof as a catalyst for programming even before the new building opens.  

On April 18, Antioch hosts a class on pollinators from 4-5 p.m. The same program will be offered April 25 from 2-3 p.m. at Gardner. This workshop, presented by Johnson County Master Gardeners, focuses on bees, butterflies and bats and their environmental impact. 

Youth Librarian Christi Haines was eager to bring this program to Antioch, especially because of its relevance to the green roof.  

“Back in the fall, when we were looking at what we would do in the spring, this was one of the program possibilities that the programming team came up with,” Haines said. “When I heard that was a programming option, I felt like we really ought to get it since we were going to have a green roof.” 

Youth Information Specialist Heather Miller said other programming also has an environmental motivation. Last October, Antioch hosted a “book swap” in which teens exchanged gently used books at the Library.  

“We created the logo “Reduce, Reuse, Read” so teens could come in and swap out their old books and get a refresh for their book shelves,” Miller explained. “It was bringing in that sustainability element.” 

Miller is encouraging other Library staff to consider an adult and family/kids swap, especially after the Merriam branch opens. 

Libraries are examples of sustainability and responsible materials reuse, said Youth Information Specialist Grace Bentley, who specializes in working with young children.  

“The Library in general is a green enterprise,” Bentley pointed out. “Young kids go through books really quickly.” She reminds parents that rather than buying dozens of books, they can check them out from the Library and return them for others to enjoy.  

Miller looks forward to offering innovative science-oriented programming in the Merriam branch that will emphasize fascinating aspects of the natural world. 

A scale model of the new branch is displayed at Antioch, getting lots of attention from kids. “I think it’s going to be really great to talk to kids about what they are seeing on the roof, tracking those changes, making sure they notice what’s happening,” Bentley said. “It will be another big draw and a point of interest for our families.”