Signature Events

Deep River

The son of a World War II veteran and himself a decorated former Marine who fought a year in Vietnam, Karl Marlantes based his first two books on his military and post-military experiences. In Deep River, he draws movingly from his roots in a small logging town in the Pacific Northwest.

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Best-selling author Karl Marlantes discusses his new novel Deep River – drawn from his Pacific Northwest roots – about three Finnish siblings who emigrate to America at the turn of the 20th century, settling and coming into their own in a logging community in Washington state.
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Program: 
6:30 pm
Plaza Branch
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Patton the Ghost: His Last Hurrah

The legend of George S. Patton is one of triumph touched by controversy. He delivered both in the Mediterranean theater of World War II, setting the stage for the campaign that would cement his name in the pantheon of American military history: the 1944-45 invasion and liberation of Western Europe.

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William Nance of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College recounts the campaign that would cement George S. Patton in the pantheon of American military history: the 1944-45 invasion and liberation of Western Europe. After he’d served as a D-Day decoy, he and his Third Army inflicted massive German casualties while storming across the continent. Nineteen months after V-E Day, Patton was dead.
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Reception: 
6 pm
Program: 
6:30 pm
Central Library
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A Passion for Purpose: Building Cities for our Children

He has been the face of Kansas City for eight years. Now, as Sly James completes his second and mandatory final term as mayor, he looks back on a life that took him from his upbringing in a segregated working-class neighborhood to military service in the Marines, a groundbreaking legal career, and ultimately the 29th floor of City Hall.

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Sly James – in his final days as Kansas City’s mayor – joins co-author Sean Wheelock in launching his new autobiography A Passion for Purpose. It looks back on a life that took James from his upbringing in a segregated working-class neighborhood to military service in the Marines, a groundbreaking legal career, and ultimately the 29th floor of City Hall.
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Reception: 
6 pm
Program: 
6:30 pm
Plaza Branch
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Jim 'Mr. Stinky Feet' Cosgrove

Friday Night Family Fun
Kansas City-based kid rocker and Library favorite Jim “Mr. Stinky Feet” Cosgrove takes audience members on an extraterrestrial musical adventure through the Milky Way as part of the Library’s 2019 Summer Reading Program, Dare to Discover. Learn about the planets in our solar system, and become a member of the Alien All-Star Band.

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Kansas City-based kid rocker and Library favorite Jim “Mr. Stinky Feet” Cosgrove takes audience members on an extraterrestrial musical adventure through the Milky Way as part of the Library’s 2019 Summer Reading Program, Dare to Discover. Learn about the planets in our solar system, and become a member of the Alien All-Star Band. Appropriate for all ages.
Friday, July 26, 2019
Program: 
6:30 pm
Plaza Branch
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Shooting the Moon: Cinema of Space

What does film tell us about our fascination with and perception of the moon? University of Missouri-Kansas City film studies professor Mitch Brian explores the question, walking through Hollywood’s depiction of space flight and lunar landings using clips from silent movies, blockbuster classics, and documentaries. His presentation is part of the Library’s 2019 Summer Reading Program: Dare to Discover.
 
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What does film tell us about our fascination with and perception of the moon? University of Missouri-Kansas City film studies professor Mitch Brian explores the question, walking through Hollywood’s depiction of space flight and lunar landings using clips from silent movies, blockbuster classics, and documentaries. His presentation is part of the Library’s 2019 Summer Reading Program: Dare to Discover.
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Program: 
6:30 pm
Plaza Branch
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Young Actors Workshop Performance

Friday Night Family Fun
After five weeks of drama classes, the participants in the Young Actors Workshop need an audience.
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After five weeks of drama classes the participants in the Young Actors Workshop need an audience. Enjoy comedic and dramatic performances by children ages 3-17 taught by theatre instructor John Mulvey. For all ages.
Friday, August 2, 2019
Program: 
6:30 pm
Plaza Branch
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The Liberation of Paris: 'The Loveliest, Brightest Story of Our Time'

Military historian Harry S. Laver of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College looks back at Paris’ deliverance in 1944 from more than four years of German occupation and brutality. It didn’t come easily.
 
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Military historian Harry S. Laver of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College looks back at Paris’ deliverance in 1944 from more than four years of German occupation and brutality. It didn’t come easily.
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Reception: 
6 pm
Program: 
6:30 pm
Central Library
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Making of a Mayor

Less than one week after taking office, new Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas joins veteran KMBC television news reporter Micheal Mahoney in looking back at Lucas’ decisive election-day win and ahead to the business of running the city in which he grew up.
 

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Less than one week after taking office, new Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas joins veteran KMBC television news reporter Micheal Mahoney in looking back at Lucas’ decisive election-day win and ahead to the business of running the city in which he grew up.
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Program: 
6:30 pm
Plaza Branch
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