Previous Special Events

Twenty Films Essential to Cinema Literacy

Think you’re film literate? Not until you’ve experienced the masterpieces of world cinema presented as part of this new series. Former Kansas City Star film critic Robert W. Butler (now a member of the Library’s Public Affairs staff) provides opening and closing remarks.

Come dressed in your favorite costume and enjoy an interactive concert by The Fine Arts Chorale. The concert, which is designed for children of all ages, features Halloween characters and involves the audience with singing, movement, and Halloween sounds.

Join us for a public viewing of the 2012 Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates.

A panel discussion follows each debate.

Co-sponsored by A&S Continuing Education at the University of Missouri - Kansas City.

Dennis Domer looks at the evolution of architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s interior designs in which every element is intended to be not only individually interesting but to contribute to a unified whole.

Domer is director of graduate studies for the KU Department of American Studies.

The sustainability movement is healthy and active in Kansas City.

A panel of energy and recycling experts moderated by Kate Corwin, CEO of GreenWorks Kansas City, discuss The Future of Energy and Creating a Sustainable Community. Participants include Kristin Riott of Bridging the Gap, Bob Housh of the Metropolitan Energy Center, Lara Isch of the KCMO Water Department, Stacia Stelk of Ripple Glass and Chuck Caisley of Kansas City Power & Light.

Tanner Colby engages in a public conversation about his new book, Some of My Best Friends Are Black, with Kansas City writer Whitney Terrell. Colby’s book about race is anchored by four interrelated stories, one of which involves a Kansas City neighborhood.

A child of a white-flight Southern suburb, Colby is former head writer of the National Lampoon Radio Hour and co-author of Belushi: A Biography.

Co-sponsored by the Writers at Work Roundtable & the UMKC English Department.

The grandmothers of today are younger, healthier, better educated, and better off than grandmothers have ever been. And, as photojournalist Paola Gianturco shows in her book Grandmother Power: A Global Phenomenon, these women have embraced activism to fight poverty, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and human rights abuses.

What will the Affordable Care Act mean to the lives, health, and finances of you and your family? How will it be implemented?

Jay Angoff, Region VII director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and a panel of health experts discuss the new law.

Angoff was Missouri’s insurance commissioner from 1993-1998. He was the first director of the Health and Human Services Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.

Co-sponsored by the Missouri Nurses Association.

Staged by the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre, this work, along with The Hindu and the Cowboy on Oct. 1st, is based on stories of real Kansas Citians collected by playwright Donna Ziegenhorn. Bingo on the Boulevard features a homeless schizophrenic, a feisty grandmother, and a drug dealer.

Both plays give voice to everyday people. The performances are part of this year’s Festival of Faiths Kansas City.

Location: City Market, 400 Grand St.

Join fellow book lovers on the first Saturday of every month (May – October) from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. as the Friends of the Kansas City Public Library present the fifth annual City Market Summer Book Sale Series.