The Bookmobile will not be at any stops this week for scheduled maintenance. We will resume a normal schedule Tuesday, May 28.

52 for 150: What’s So Special About Ken Ferguson?

Posted by on April 18, 2011

For week 16 of our Kansas sesquicentennial series, we’re focusing on ceramist Ken Ferguson (1938-2004), former Professor and Chair of the ceramics department at Kansas City Art Institute for over thirty years. “In 1981 Ferguson was voted one of the twelve greatest living potters in a readers’ survey by Ceramics Monthly magazine. His students included many successful contemporary ceramists including Richard [...]

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52 for 150: What’s So Special About Architect Michael Graves?

Posted by on April 4, 2011

In the spirit of National Library Week, for week 14 of our Kansas sesquicentennial series we’re taking a closer look at the library as an “art object” and at Michael Graves, the architect behind the design of our current building. Architecture merges science with design to create living, functional spaces which, over time, can become iconic cultural symbols [...]

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52 for 150: What’s So Special About Your Library’s Sheet Music Collection?

Posted by on March 7, 2011

For week 10 of our Kansas sesquicentennial series we’re celebrating National Music In Our Schools Month—the theme this year is “Music Lasts A Lifetime”—by taking a closer look at our collection of Sheet Music. Between our John Ripley collection of late 19th- and early 20th-century songs, jazz  and wartime music, and our local music written by songwriters from Topeka [...]

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What Does Kansas Mean to You?

Posted by on February 24, 2011

In lieu of the 2011 Kansas Reads kick-off on January 29, we invited First Friday artwalkers to answer this question on video during opening night of Kansas 150 for 150, our current exhibit featuring 150 Topeka-related objects spanning more than 150 years from the Library’s permanent collection. These are their responses. Kansas Reads selected the book, What Kansas Means [...]

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52 for 150: What’s So Special About Dean Mitchell?

Posted by on February 6, 2011

It’s week six of our Kansas sesquicentennial series, and to kick off Black History Month we’re taking a closer look at artist Dean Mitchell. Mitchell has been called a “virtual modern-day Vermeer,” by New York Times art critic, Michael Kimmelman. Mitchell’s passion for everyday people is evident in this excerpt from his artist’s statement: “I [...]

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52 for 150: What’s So Special About Your Library’s Art Nouveau Collection?

Posted by on January 31, 2011

It’s week five of our Kansas sesquicentennial series and we’re celebrating the unofficial start of the Art Nouveau movement by taking a closer look at our own Art Nouveau Collection. “On January 1, 1895, Czech artist Alphonse Mucha debuted a poster he designed for Sarah Bernhardt in Gismonda. The legendary Sarah and the public adored it, and its phenomenal success made [...]

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52 for 150: What’s So Special About Your Library’s Kansas Collection?

Posted by on January 20, 2011

It’s week four of our Kansas sesquicentennial series. Kansas celebrates its birthday on January 29th, and what better way to honor Kansas this week than to take a closer look at our Kansas Collection. Ranging the entire Dewey system, this non-circulating reference collection contains Kansas authors, Kansas illustrators, biographies about notable Kansans and writers of Kansas [...]

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