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5 Star Teen Pick: Sapiens by Yuval Harari
One of our teen reviewers recently read and reviewed Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Yuval N. Harari.
In the nonfiction novel Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari takes the reader on a journey through the human experience from the homo genus’s creation until now. He accomplishes this by focusing on how the three principal revolutions - cognitive, agricultural, and scientific - came to be and how they shaped our development. The first of them, the cognitive revolution, touches on how we developed our trademark intelligence. The second, the agricultural revolution, touches on how we transitioned from hunter-gatherer societies to villages that farmed and herded livestock. Finally, the scientific revolution touches on the start of technological development and scientific exploration.
This novel, Sapiens, is arguably the best book I have ever read. The language is easy to understand, and the content both relatable and fresh; I only have praises. Whether you love nonfiction or are like me and stick mostly to fiction, I believe this is a book everyone should read. The only score it deserves is five out of five stars for its astounding ability to enlighten and inform any reader.
Check out Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind »
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!
Tabletop Games – Wednesday, March 1, 6 – 7:45 p.m.
Join us for a fun-filled evening at the Blue Valley 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. Each month, our gaming librarians will feature a family-friendly game, the March pick is Carcassonne, and teach you how to play it. Come and go as you please. Refreshments are provided.
Caregiver Workshop: Intro to Baby Sign Language – Wednesday, March 1, 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. In March, discover American Sign Language to use with your baby. This program will be hosted using the meeting software Zoom. A Johnson County Library staff member will contact registrants via email the day before the meeting with instructions on how to access the Zoom meeting. You do not need to download any software or create an account.
READ to a Dog with Pets for Life – Monday, March 6, 3:30 – 5 p.m.
You’re invited to come Read with a dog at the Leawood Pioneer Library. The Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.) program improves children’s reading and communication skills by employing a powerful method: reading to a registered therapy dog or cat! These animals volunteer with their owner/handlers as a team. Please note: space is limited for this program; kids will get a ticket at arrival and wait their turn to read to one of several dogs.
Caregiver Workshop: Intro to Baby Sign Language
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. In March, discover American Sign Language to use with your baby. Presented by Shira Fogel, founder of Tiny Talkers.
Caregiver Workshop: Intro to Baby Sign Language
March. 1, 7-8 p.m.
Register »
Mrs. Monte Redman and Judy Redman in Prairie Village Volunteer Library.
Happy Birthday, Corinth Library!
Johnson County Library’s Corinth branch, at 8100 Mission Road, is popular with patrons from Prairie Village and beyond. It opened Feb. 24, 1963, so 2023 will mark its 60th anniversary milestone.
In the 1950s, before the Johnson County Library had funding, volunteer run libraries were spread through the county. In 1953, a branch was opened in the Prairie Village Shopping Center. It was located in the basement of one of the shops. When funding was available in 1956, the library moved upstairs to a rented space on the Concourse.
In 1961, voters approved a bond issue that allowed for the site purchase and build of a library in Prairie Village. Corinth opened its doors on February 24, 1963. The branch site and that of the adjacent Corinth Shopping Center were already famous in Kansas City history. The clothier Herbert Woolf built Woolford Farm on 200 acres and raised thoroughbred racing horses. He hosted lavish parties whose guests included Theodore Roosevelt and many other notables. In 1938 his horse Lawrin won the Kentucky Derby. Lawrin is buried on the top of the hill just west of the library.
In 1967 Corinth expanded on both the north and south sides to reach its current size of 20,475 square feet. In 1988 it had an interior renovation, with the addition of an elevator and east side windows.
Read the full article on the JoCoHistory blog.
Students at federal Indian boarding schools were stripped of their Indigenous identities and given new ones in the Euro-American fashion – including birthdays, religion, clothing, haircuts, languages, and even names.
New JoCoHistory Blog: Away from Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories
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: Away from Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories
"What we call Kansas today has long been contested space. Kansas has been a crossroads of people, lifestyles, and ideas for hundreds of years. The struggle between Native culture, traditions, and society and their Europeanized counterparts played out across the American West, including in Kansas and Johnson County. A new exhibit at the Johnson County Museum highlights this tension by exploring the history of federal, off-reservation Indian boarding schools. Titled Away from Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories, it is a nationally traveling exhibition, on display at the Johnson County Museum for just seven weeks before moving in 20 crates to its next destination."
Please visit the JoCoHistory blog for the full article.
Consumer Questions?
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a U.S. government agency dedicated to making sure you are treated fairly by banks, lenders and other financial institutions, can answer questions about:
- Credit reports
- Debt collection
- Mortgages
- Credit Cards
- and more ...
They're on your side through life’s financial moments.
eResources for Students
Let's face it, if you're reading this, you're probably not a kiddo! But, you know the African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” So, if you have children or you know any school age children, help us spread the word about our bounty of learning materials conveniently located online for easy access! Like what, you ask? How about:
eRESOURCES FOR STUDENTS OF ALL AGES
jocolibrary.org/HomeworkHelp
Biography (Gale In Context): Comprehensive biographies on the world’s most influential people with related content from periodicals and multimedia to provide context.
Brainfuse HelpNow: Live online tutoring daily 2-11 p.m. Professional tutors can guide you through academic subjects from kindergarten through AP and college level classes. Writing Lab to get feedback within one business day. SkillSurfer for study resources and test prep (AP, PSAT, SAT, ACT, ASVAB, GED and citizenship tests.) Send Question to get a response within one business day.
CultureGrams: Explore the culture, history and people of each U.S. state and country of the world. Encyclopedia Britannica: School, Library, Academic, Escolar and Moderna versions of the encyclopedia offer articles for students of all ages.
Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia: Online encyclopedia for students.
Khan Academy: Khan Academy provides a free world-class education for anyone everywhere on topics like math, science, history, economics, humanities, programming and test prep.
LearningExpress Library: Tutorials and quizzes for elementary to adult for a variety of subjects.
Lightbox: Nonfiction eBooks that integrate multimedia into each page.
TOPICsearch: Articles from a variety of national and international newspapers and magazines.
JUST FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
jocolibrary.org/research/homework-help-kids
Kanopy Kids: Curated streaming video collection of children’s programming.
National Geographic Kids: Great for kids interested in science, space, animals, history, geography and fun. Enjoy the full magazine with all the illustrations online.
Primary Search: Articles from popular elementary school magazines.
JUST FOR MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
jocolibrary.org/research/homework-help-teens
Middle Search Plus: Popular magazines for middle and junior high school students.
MAS Ultra – School Edition: Articles from popular magazines and journals for high school students.
Explora: Articles and multimedia covering a wide variety of subjects like biography, business, current events, health, history, literature, science and more. Easy to browse new topics or search for specific information.
NewsBank Hot Topics: Concise summaries of the month’s major news topics with links to relevant newspaper articles, blogs and more.
Primary Sources (Gale): Digital historical documents including books, manuscripts, letters, newspapers, photographs, maps and more ranging across topics of national and global relevance.
These resources will have kids running home from school to study!