KC Public Library Blog
Program Notes: Lilies of the Field (1963)
Throughout the 1950s and ‘60s, Sidney Poitier was pretty much the only African American leading man in Hollywood. With Lilies of the Field he became the first African American man to win the Oscar for best actor.
Ringing in the New
December 31, 1900: Fifteen thousand of Kansas City's elite brave the cold to usher in the new century at Convention Hall.
New on DVD: The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
For those of you who don’t like horror movies, who have become weary of the usual clichés, here’s some blessed relief. It’s called The Cabin in the Woods and it is terrific.
I don’t feeeeeeel well!
When the leaves fall from the trees and the weather turns chilly, it’s not just time to pull out your coats and mittens. It’s cold and flu season, too. Coughing! Sneezing! Sore throat! Stuffy head! Fever! Oh, no, you’re SICK! The best way that I can think of to battle winter yuckiness is to snuggle in bed with a box of tissues, a nice warm cup of chicken soup, and a great book. I found some fact books about what happens in your body when you have a cold or the flu and some story books that are sure to make you giggle to help you forget how rotten you feel.
Let There Be Lights
December 25, 1925: A single strand of Christmas lights hangs on the Country Club Plaza’s first building, beginning a Kansas City tradition that continues today.
Program Notes: Scrooge (1970)
Perhaps Charles Dickens was writing musicals and didn’t realize it. Scrooge has all the hallmarks of musical theater - emotional catharsis, bigger-than-life characters, and innate moral sense.
Living with the Bomb
A serendipitous (and sometimes tangential) time-travel adventure inspired by the library. It all started when I met a group of Cub Scouts and their parents down in Kirk Hall of the Central Library...
New on DVD: The Queen of Versailles (2012)
It’s a testament to the evenhandedness of The Queen of Versailles that you don’t end up hating its money-centric subjects. But it does raise a troubling question: Does having too much money make you dumb?
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as a children’s book. It provides a much less grand vision than The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but that doesn't mean it lacks seriousness or that it fails to raise some serious questions.
Civil War Christmases (in Missouri and Kansas)
As lighted decorations appear in every corner this holiday season, we may do well to remember that not so long ago Missouri and Kansas looked remarkably different, and Christmas provided an annual ray of hope for a nation torn apart during the Civil War.
Holy Bones, Holy Dust by Charles Freeman
Charles Freeman in Holy Bones, Holy Dust examines the long use and veneration of items from Biblical times and from those considered to be saints after that, an interesting perspective outside of a traditional historical narrative.
Striking a Chord
December 16, 1936: One thousand members of the United Auto Workers conduct a sit-down strike at the Fisher Body plant in Kansas City, giving early momentum to what will become known as the General Motors Strike of 1936-1937.
Program Notes: Scrooged (1988)
Is Scrooged (1988) a Dickens movie or a Bill Murray movie? A bit of both, actually. If the tale’s overall arc is familiar, some of the details are delightfully oddball.
Kansas City Noir by Steve Paul, editor
If you’re a fan of shadowy crime fiction, local authors, and well-written literature, then Kansas City Noir is a book you’ll definitely want to add to your library reading list.