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It’s another grand Throwback Thursday where we encourage you to time travel through Johnson County's history. JoCoHistory is a collaborative presentation of 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 Oral Histories

About this collection: The Museum conducts oral history interviews with local residents in an effort to capture firsthand accounts and stories from the past. The interviews are project-oriented and focus on specific themes related to Johnson County's history.

Themes include:

• Agriculture
• All-Electric House
• Bicentennial Collection
• Citizen Soldiers on the Prairie: The Story of the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant Exhibit
• Civil Rights and Fair Housing
• Coming of Age in Johnson County: 1960-1976 Exhibit
• Education
• Home Building
• Johnson County Communities
• New Immigrants and the American Dream Exhibit
• Politics
• Shawnee Family Stories
• Suburban Bliss: The Political Cartoons of Bob Bliss Exhibit
• To Serve and Protect Exhibit
• White Haven Motor Lodge

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!

Interviewing is Like Dating – Tuesday, Aug. 16,10 a.m. – noon

When finding a new job, it is important to make sure that you are a good fit for the company AND that the company is a good fit for you. There are strategies to figuring out whether or not a new job or position is right for you. This interactive workshop will help you find a workplace culture that is a good fit.

Goal Setting and Time Management – Wednesday, Aug. 17,10 a.m. – noon

This workshop will give you the skills and knowledge to identify how you currently use your time, identity your personal time management strengths and weaknesses, learn the dimensions of self-management of time and identify new habits you can implement to improve your personal time management.

Addressing Gun Violence in Public Spaces: Protection for everyday people in everyday life – Wednesday, Aug. 17, 6 – 7:30 p.m.

Most citizens deplore the mass gun violence that is currently plaguing our nation. However, Second Amendment advocates fear their rights could be limited if laws addressing guns are changed. As this standoff continues, death tolls are increasing and anxiety levels continue to rise for citizens of all ages when in public spaces such as schools, houses of worship, retail stores and other public venues. What is the answer when it comes to mitigating gun violence in America?

Maintain Your Ride – Thursday, Aug. 18, noon – 1:30 p.m.

Get your hands dirty and learn to keep your bike in tip-top shape with this free class from Johnson County Library and BikeWalkKC. Live and in-person at the bicycle fix-it stand in front of Central Resource Library, our instructors will teach you how to keep your bike in good working order with a few basic tools and some practical know-how. You will learn how to clean and lubricate your chain, fix a flat, adjust shifting and braking, and other basic bike maintenance skills. We’ll also show you how to use the Library’s bicycle fix-it stand. This is a hands-on class!

And much more happening this week »

Our Fall Web Calendar is now live! Browse through Book Discussions, MakerSpace events, Teen Book Swaps, the Writers Conference, and more!

Johnson County Library is exploring innovative ways to refresh buildings and enhance services at its smaller community branches: De Soto, Spring Hill and Edgerton.

The DeSoto, Spring Hill and Edgerton Conceptual Design Study began with community engagement surveys, resulting in about 350 responses, and a virtual listening session earlier this year. Staff and patrons offered numerous suggestions relating to hours, cosmetic updating of Library space and requests for services and programming.

“We know these communities have grown and changed,” said John Keogh, branch manager for Gardner, Spring Hill and Edgerton. ”We know it’s been a while since we did a major reconsideration of how we provide services to the community branches.”

Johnson County Library has engaged Clark & Enersen architects to study creative ways to refresh the Library spaces. Conceptual designs are expected to go to the Library Board in August.

The intent is to fund these projects with Library reserve dollars, and future discussions will involve the budget and construction phasing timeline.

The timing is right for this evaluation. The De Soto and Spring Hill branches both opened in 1982. Although well maintained, they have not seen major renovations since then, while those communities have become growing population hubs.

The Edgerton branch, the only library building not owned by the Library Board, was the result of the town’s successful campaign to repurpose an existing building in 2000. The building is underutilized. Work anticipated for this facility would address condition issues.

The Edgerton City Council is currently considering building a community center in close proximity to the Library branch which is an opportunity to create synergy between the two civic amenities.

In community survey responses, patrons frequently asked for more meeting and study spaces, updated interiors, extended hours of operation, popular collections and more natural light.

Patrons want best sellers and high demand fiction, and the Library is working to accommodate those desires, said Christian Madrigal, Branch Manager for Lenexa City Center, Monticello and De Soto. “We have a great collection department, which keeps lists on things which are very popular,” he said.

The De Soto, Spring Hill and Edgerton study includes three topics, which staff will continue to develop recommendations for:

• Creative use of existing available space. The Library is exploring ways to move walls and reconfigure the physical space at De Soto and Spring Hill for meetings, tutoring, book clubs and other gatherings.
• Branch hours. Johnson County Library is analyzing requests for more evening and weekend hours and whether those would actually be utilized. Hours of operation are established by Library policy and can only be changed by the Board, so this will require considerable research. The last change to hours was in early 2015.
• Expanded patron access. The Library is also looking at innovative service models to allow patron access the buildings when it is convenient to the patron, even when staffers aren’t there. This requires an understanding of national Library trends and the resources necessary for and risks to providing the service. The Library could potentially pilot a new service model at one of these locations.

Construction work of this scope would require these locations to be closed during construction, but patrons could visit nearby branches including Gardner and Monticello.

“Access is very important,” Madrigal said.

As the concept design study wraps up later this year, the budget will be refined. Contingent on Library Board approval, design and construction work at the first of these locations is anticipated to begin in 2023, and would be phased as resources allow.