Signature Events
Anne Boyd Rioux
Approaching the 150th anniversary of the original release of Louisa May Alcott’s classic Little Women, author Anne Boyd Rioux joins the Library’s director of readers’ services, Kaite Stover, in a discussion of Rioux’s new book Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters.
Tyler Thrasher
Tulsa, Oklahoma, artist Tyler Thrasher, whose drawings, photos, and unique crystalized pieces are featured in the Library exhibit Noble Synthesis, discusses his work and its scientific inspirations in an illustrated presentation.
2018 Off the Wall Film Series: Summer Cinema Mixtape
Doors open: 8 pm • Program: 8:45 pm
Sad-sack Seymour (Rick Moranis) works at Mushnik’s, a Skid Row flower shop, crooning and crushing on his coworker Audrey (Ellen Greene), girlfriend to a dastardly dentist (Steve Martin). While shopping during a solar eclipse, Seymour picks up a mysterious plant. He names it “Audrey II,” and soon discovers it has a... unique appetite. As the greenery -- and business at the flower shop -- grows, the hungry plant begins singing for a more substantial supper.
Peter Edelman
In a discussion of his book Not a Crime to Be Poor: The Criminalization of Poverty in America, Georgetown University’s Peter Edelman details the need to reform a legal system that punishes the impoverished through impossibly high fees and fines for minor crimes – a la Ferguson, Missouri – and other onerous practices.
Jessica Lenahan, Caroline Bettinger-Lopez
Jessica Lenahan’s three daughters were killed by their father in 1999, and her fight to bring meaning to their deaths led to one of the most significant legal victories in the history of domestic violence advocacy. She joins University of Miami law professor Caroline Bettinger-López in a screening and discussion of Home Truth, a 2017 documentary about the ordeal.
Friday Night Family Fun
Jim Cosgrove – aka Mr. Stinky Feet – is a Kansas City-area institution, singing and dancing with families in more than 3,500 shows throughout North America and Europe and releasing a series of award-winning albums since his debut in 1998. Join the popular entertainer in celebrating his 20th anniversary with a special concert featuring a number of musical guests who’ve rock ’n rolled with him over the years.
Movies and Memories
Sample some of the world’s faraway places in the latest installment of the Library’s special, intergenerational movie series for individuals with dementia, their friends, and families. Attendees can take in a selection of short travel documentaries, smell spices, and share memories from around the globe. The Kansas City Boys Choir performs.
Clarence Lang, Walter Naegle
On the 55th anniversary of the momentous 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the Library screens an acclaimed documentary about its behind-the-scenes organizer, Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin. Rustin’s partner, Walter Naegle, then joins University of Kansas professor Clarence Lang in discussing Rustin’s legacy as an influential but underappreciated civil rights strategist.
