Kansas City Public Library

Schuyler Bailar became the first openly trans person to compete for a men's D1 team in the NCAA. He'll speak at the Kansas City Public Library on Thursday about his recent book "He/She/They: How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters."

A special Kansas City kickball tournament offers a chance for blind and visually impaired students to play — using beeping balls and bases. Plus: A former Hallmark artist has a new graphic novel that shows how being a "Mexikid" can be universal.

Pedro Martín will discuss his graphic memoir, “Mexikid,” which follows his family's trip to bring his grandfather to the United States from Mexico, on Oct. 12 during the Kansas City Public Library and Missouri Humanities' Heartland Book Festival.

Missouri bans more books from schools than any other state except Texas and Florida, according to PEN America. Margaret Atwood and “That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America” author Amanda Jones visited Kansas City for Banned Books Week.

In the mid-1990s, the Kansas City Public Library was threatening to close its branch on the Westside. Librarian Irene Ruiz went door to door campaigning for the building to stay. Today, that branch of the library is named after her.

Armada con una grabadora, la bibliotecaria de Kansas City, Irene Ruiz, capturó la evolución de la historia del vecindario de Westside e hizo de la biblioteca un lugar más acogedor para los inmigrantes mexicanos y latinos que vivían allí. Hoy en día, la sucursal del vecindario de Westside la Biblioteca Pública de Kansas City, que cuenta con la sólida colección de idioma español que Ruiz comenzó, lleva su nombre en su honor.

Armed with a tape recorder, Kansas City librarian Irene Ruiz captured the evolving history of the Westside and made the library a more welcoming place for the Mexican immigrants and Latinos who lived there. Today, the Westside branch of the Kansas City Public Library — featuring the robust Spanish language collection that Ruiz began — is named in her honor.

The Prospect KC is partnering with the Kansas City Public Library to reopen the downtown branch's café next week, years after it closed during the pandemic. The Nook will serve as a hands-on training space for culinary students.

Ebony Reed's “Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap,” co-written by Louise Story, follows the lives of seven Black Americans, tying in research about the wealth gap between Black and white Americans.

Librarians at the downtown branch named the pair of mourning doves after Carrie Westlake Whitney, the "mother of the Kansas City Public Library," and her longtime companion Frances Bishop. Staff want visitors' help naming the two hatchlings.

Abby Yellman starts her position August 5 after serving as the deputy city manager in Broomfield, Colorado.

If you're looking to escape the brutal Kansas City summer heat, there's no better escape than these innovative and exciting exhibitions spanning the local art scene.