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Event Audio

To listen to an audio recording of a previous Library special event, click the icon. The audio file will launch the media player on your computer.

The most recent recording displays at the top. The Library offers recordings only with the permission of the presenter. Please allow 7-10 days for the recording to be posted.

  • David Shields, author of The Magic Mirror: Photography & American Silent Cinema, discusses the work of legendary local photographer Orval Hixon.
    Shooting Stars: The Celebrity Photography of Orval Hixon
    Wednesday, January 27, 2010
    Central Library

    The inaugural exhibition of the Orval Hixon gallery, Shooting Stars: The Celebrity Photography of Orval Hixon, opens on Wednesday, January 27, at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St. The opening will be highlighted by a 6:30 p.m. presentation from author and photography expert Dr. David Shields. 

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  • Anne C. Heller discusses her new biography of the libertarian author and philosopher best known for such novels as The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.
    Anne C. Heller: Ayn Rand and the World She Made
    Tuesday, January 26, 2010
    Central Library

    Anne C. Heller discusses her new book Ayn Rand and the World She Made, a biography of the author and philosopher best known for the novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, on Tuesday, January 26, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

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  • Kansas City native Colonel Charles McGee (Ret.), one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, shares his experience as a member of the pioneering group of black American aviators during World War II.
    The Tuskegee Airmen Experience
    Sunday, January 24, 2010
    Central Library

    Kansas City native-son Colonel Charles McGee (Ret.), one of the famed World War II Tuskegee Airmen, shares his experience as a member of the pioneering group of black American aviators during World War II.

    The presentation complements the exhibit, The Test: The Tuskegee Airmen Project.

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  • Library Director Crosby Kemper III hosts a conversation on humanities studies and the future of America’s place in the world with Librarian of Congress James H. Billington and Princeton University engineering professor David Billington.
    Monitoring the Humanistic Heartbeat Of America
    Thursday, January 21, 2010
    Central Library

     Kansas City Public Library Director Crosby Kemper III hosts a conversation about humanities studies and the future of America's position in the world with brothers James H. and David Billington on Thursday, January 21, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library.

    James Billington, the librarian of Congress, will discuss why the decline of humanities studies has diminished America's position in the world.

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  • Author and former Kansas City resident Gretchen Rubin discusses her new book The Happiness Project, which chronicles the year she spent trying to live a happier, more fulfilling life.
    Gretchen Rubin: The Happiness Project
    Wednesday, January 20, 2010
    Plaza Branch

    Author Gretchen Rubin discusses her new book The Happiness Project: Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun on Wednesday, January 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St.

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  • Author Michael Gates Gill demonstrates that it is possible to make a leap to a better life at any point, regardless of your age, career path, or family situation.
    Michael Gates Gill: How to Save Your Own Life
    Tuesday, January 19, 2010
    Plaza Branch

     Bestselling author Michael Gates Gill discusses his new book How to Save Your Own Life: 15 Lessons on Finding Hope in Unexpected Places on Tuesday, January 19, at 6:30 p.m. at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St.

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  • Twyla Dell discusses the rapid rise of Kansas City in its first 100 years and the role that energy played in its development.
    Twyla Dell: Flame, Furnace, Fuel - Creating Kansas City
    Sunday, January 17, 2010
    Central Library

    Twyla Dell discusses the rapid rise of Kansas City in its first 100 years and the role that energy played in its development on Sunday, January 17, at 2 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

    The site that would become Kansas City was founded in the Wood Age as the steamboat era began, grew to a major railroad junction 50 years later in the Coal Age and expanded into the Oil Age in the early 1900s.

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  • Economist Tyler Cowen, one of the most respected behavioral economists in the world, offers an essential guide to success in a radically new hyper-networked age.
    Tyler Cowen: Create Your Own Economy
    Thursday, January 14, 2010
    Central Library

    Economist Tyler Cowen discusses his new book Create Your Own Economy: The Path to Prosperity in a Disordered World on Thursday, January 14, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

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  • Jacqueline Edelberg chronicles the transformation of Chicago’s Louis Nettelhorst Elementary School from an underutilized and struggling neighborhood institution into a successful, vibrant pillar of the community.
    Jacqueline Edelberg: How To Walk To School
    Wednesday, January 13, 2010
    Central Library

    To open the latest season of the What Works in Urban Education series, Tom Bloch and the University Academy present Jacqueline Edelberg and her book, How to Walk to School: Blueprint for a Neighborhood School Renaissance on Wednesday, January 13, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

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  • Urban League of Greater Kansas City President & CEO Gwen Grant presents the State of Black Kansas City 2010 Equality Index. Following the presentation, historian Bryan LeBeau answers the question What Would Abraham Lincoln Think?
    The State of Black Kansas City/What Would Lincoln Think?
    Tuesday, January 12, 2010
    Central Library

    Urban League of Greater Kansas City President Gwendolyn Grant leads a discussion of data from the State of Black Kansas City 2010 Equality Index on Tuesday, January 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

    The 2010 Index indicates that black unemployment is three times that of whites, that more than three times as many blacks as whites live below poverty line, and that more than 50% of blacks do not have medical insurance.

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