Signature Events

Hindsight, Insight: Four Former Mayors Appraise KC

Emanuel Cleaver, Kay Barnes, Mark Funkhouser, Sly James, Nick Haines

Four former Kansas City mayors gather for the first time in an extraordinary forum co-presented by the Citizens Association of Kansas City and Kansas City PBS. They take stock of our city today while looking back at what their administrations were able to achieve, what they’d hoped to accomplish but couldn’t, and why some perennially promised things are so hard to deliver.

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Graphic of four mayors with Hindsight, Insight title text
Thursday, January 26, 2023 - 6:00pm
Reception: 
5:30 pm
Plaza Branch
Event at Capacity

Taking Care of You: Color Your Calm

Friday Night Family Fun

Coloring is a proven way for all ages to relax. We’ll work together on GIANT coloring pages and some individual pages you can take home! Recommended for ages 3 and up.

black and white rainbow cartoon getting colored in by red crayon
Plaza Branch
Friday, January 27, 2023
5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Why We Love Rom-Coms: 'Waiting to Exhale'

Jess Stacy, Lonita Cook
Searching the Psyche Through Cinema

This year’s Searching the Psyche Through Cinema series continues with a screening and discussion of Waiting to Exhale (1995, R, 127 min.), which follows the lives of four very different friends working through the struggles and triumphs of everyday life. Co-presented by the Greater Kansas City-Topeka Psychoanalytic Center.

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still from 'Waiting to Exhale'
Sunday, January 29, 2023 - 1:30pm
Plaza Branch
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Sports: Football Party

Friday Night Family Fun

It’s almost Super Bowl time! Whether you’re a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs or one of their rivals, come and enjoy games and crafts that celebrate the biggest football game of the year. For ages 3 and up.

football going through goalpost
Plaza Branch
Friday, February 3, 2023
5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

IDEAL Entrepreneurship

Kemet Coleman, La’Nae Robinson, La’Nesha Frazier
IDEAL Entrepreneurship

Three local business owners -- Kemet Coleman, La’Nae Robinson, and La’Nesha Frazier -- help the Library kick off a new four-part series on how to make entrepreneurship in Kansas City more inclusive, diverse, equitable, accessible, and liberating – more IDEAL for all. The discussion is moderated by Chelsey M, founder of Kansas City Black Owned

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geometric shapes on various colored backgrounds
Tuesday, February 7, 2023 - 6:00pm
Reception: 
5:30 pm
Plaza Branch
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Celebrating Emerging Artists

Lindsey Doolittle, Kristen Devlin, Ryan Sikes, Brad Friedman

In conjunction with the Library exhibition Peripheral Visions, filmmaker Lindsey Doolittle screens and discusses her award-winning, 8-minute short film Emerging Artists, inspired by Johnson County Developmental Supports’ Emerging Artists program. She is joined by JCDS Arts Program Specialist Kristen Devlin and artists Ryan Sikes and Brad Friedman.

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artist painting with gloved hand
Thursday, February 9, 2023 - 6:00pm
Reception: 
5:30 pm
Central Library
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Sports: Right on Time, a Tribute to Buck O’Neil

Friday Night Family Fun

Based on numerous interviews and Buck O’Neil's autobiography I Was Right on Time, Kansas City storyteller and vocalist “Brother John” Anderson provides a masterful impersonation of the Kansas City and Negro Leagues Baseball icon. Recommended for ages 3 and up. Please note the 6 p.m. start time.

photograph of Buck O'Neil alongside baseball bat and ball
Plaza Branch
Friday, February 10, 2023
6:00 pm to 7:15 pm

Why We Love Rom-Coms: 'Heartburn'

Manuel Morales, Abby Olcese, Kaite Stover
Searching the Psyche Through Cinema

This year’s Searching the Psyche Through Cinema series continues with a screening and discussion of Heartburn (1986, R, 108 min.), based on Nora Ephron’s autobiographical novel about her ill-fated second marriage, to journalist Carl Bernstein. Co-presented by the Greater Kansas City-Topeka Psychoanalytic Center.

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still from 'Heartburn'
Sunday, February 12, 2023 - 1:30pm
Plaza Branch
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