The collection contains several books by pop-up king Robert Sabuda, reproductions of work by 19th-century movable book master Ernest Nister, and pop-up adaptations of literary classics like The Wizard of Oz and The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

The Baker gift will enhance library services by bringing in genealogical experts for programming, upgrading technology, and providing enhancements to the print, electronic, and microfilm collections.

The Baker Genealogy Center is located within the Topeka Room on the second floor of the library. The entire area is set aside as quiet research space. The Baker Center houses, in print, electronic form, or on microfilm, year books, birth, marriage and death records, family histories, obituaries, census records, marriage and cemetery indexes, military records, property, tax, and probate records, plat and insurance maps, passenger lists, naturalization records, and Topeka city directories.

Supplemental local history materials of use to genealogists held in the Topeka Room collection include county and municipal histories, biographies, historic newspapers, and migration histories.

Computers, microfilm reader-printers, and a photocopier are all available in the Topeka Room. To ensure full access to the collection, librarians provide professional service 78 hours a week, all hours that the library is open.

Red Carpet Services brings the library to our special needs patrons through library materials and customized services. Here is a detailed list of our offerings for your information. As always, please call (785) 580-4545 to speak to a Red Carpet staff member who will be happy to answer your questions.

Specialized Materials:

Assistive Hearing Devices: Over 50 different types of hearing devices to try, including amplified telephones, pocket talker personal amplifiers, TTY telephones, talking Caller ID devices, and infrared systems for television viewing.

Low Vision Aids: Try more than 350 types of magnifiers including hand held, hands free, and illuminated varieties.

Therapeutic Activity Collection: For activity providers and care providers we offer sensory and reminiscence kids, musical instruments, board games, and much more.

All library materials and assistive products may be checked out for three weeks. Consumer information is available on assistive products should you wish to purchase them after trying them.

Outreach Services:

Delivery Service: We visit retirement complexes, adult care facilities, senior centers and meal sites with regular and large print books, videos, DVDs, activity materials, and adaptive equipment to loan.

Homebound Service: For Shawnee County residents who cannot come to the library or get to a bookmobile, we deliver and pickup materials. If you need homebound services, give us a call to determine your eligibility.

Hospital Service: If you have an extended stay in a local hospital and would like reading or listening materials, call Red Carpet services for delivery.

Library Services:

Adaptive Computer Center: Our adaptive computer center features specialized tools including keyboards with large text and big keys, and software including Zoomtext (magnifies the screen to readable levels), JAWS (reads the current display aloud), and Open Book reader (reads the printed page out loud).

Community Programs and Information: Red Carpet offers information about low vision aids, assistive hearing devices, book talks, recreational programs, and reminiscence activities. To schedule a program for your group call at least one month in advance. Red carpet also offers current information about the Telecommunications Access Program (TAPS), Talking Books, Bible Alliance, Audio Reader or other services in the local area.

Biographical Dictionary of Kansas Artists
Includes artists active before 1945. Compiled by Susan Craig, Art & Architecture Librarian at the University of Kansas.

Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site
Opened on May 17, 2004 in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the historic U.S. Supreme Court decision ending desegregation, Brown v. Board of Education.

Charles Curtis House
Curtis served as Vice President under Herbert Hoover, and was the first Native American and the first Kansan to hold this office. The Curtis House is now a museum.

Historic Downtown Topeka Walking Tour
A self-guided walking tour map. The map covers an area bounded by 4th Street on the north, 10th Street on the south, Topeka Blvd. on the west, and Quincy Street on the east.

Kansas State Capitol
History, photographs, and visitor information for the State Capitol of Kansas.

Old Prairie Town at Ward Meade
Six acre Historic Site featuring a Victorian home, a log cabin, and other historic treasures.

Shawnee County Historical Society
Formed in 1946, the Shawnee County Historical Society works to preserve and promote the history of Topeka and Shawnee County. The society has published more than 80 bulletins covering the history, culture, and heritage of Topeka and Shawnee County.

Shawnee County Information (KSHS)
Historical and demographic information on Shawnee County. Hosted by the Kansas State Historical Society. 

Shawnee County Kansas GenWeb
Genealogical information for Shawnee County. Part of the Kansas GenWeb project.

Topeka City Directory 1874-1875
A complete transcription of the 1874-1875 Topeka City Directory published by F.H. Woodbury.

Topeka City Directory 1912
An indexed scan of an original 1912 Topeka City Directory. Available through DistantCousin.com.

Topeka Genealogical Society
Founded in 1965, the Topeka Genealogical Society operates a library, publishes a bi-monthly newsletter and a quarterly journal, and offers opportunities to learn more about genealogy through classes and an annual conference.

After 1924, homes are indexed by address as well as last name. Prior to 1924, the surname of the resident must be known in order to access address and occupation information.

Formerly the Kansas Center for the Book Collection, this reference collection includes books written or illustrated by Kansans, former Kansans, and books with Kansas as a subject.

The collection contains biographies of noted Kansans; selected books by authors who are not Kansans, but who use Kansas as a setting for their works; collections of Kansas folklore and legends; and materials related specifically to Kansas history, geography, topography, flora, and fauna.

The American Library Association's Booklist Book Group Buzz blog recently published "10 Ways to Lighten It Up for Summer" to help your book group avoid the summer doldrums and add some fun and relaxation to your summer discussions.

One of my favorite ideas from their list is to try reading and discussion a book that has a movie adaption, and then getting your group together to see the movie in the theaters or on DVD. Another idea that my Literature with Lunch book group is trying this summer at the library is to discuss classic children's books. We read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

Which of these suggestions might work for your own book discussion group? Do you have any other tips to share?

Remember the "very small object" guy and collecting we did as a community last summer? Our 2007 Children's Exhibit guest artist, Brian Collier, has reached a milestone.

Remember the "very small object" guy and collecting we did as a community last summer? Our 2007 Children's Exhibit guest artist, Brian Collier, has reached a milestone.

Featured in the June/July 2008 issue of Art in America, Collier, environmentalist and biologist turned artist, is drawing national and international attention: first with Pika Alarm, an installation from Weather Report: Art and climate change at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art in Colorado, and second with Teach the Starlings at Paragraph Gallery in Kansas City this year. The article, Global Warnings by Suzaan Boettger is part of the magazine's theme about the role art plays in politics. Art in America is one of the world's leading art magazines. Published since 1913, it is available monthly in Periodicals (the glassed-in reading room next to the Media and New Books area).

Collier's exhibit at the Sabatini Gallery, Very Small Objects: The Master Collection, can be revisited on the Library's Flickr page right here!

PS—can anyone identify the super-famous artist and work being parodied on the June/July cover (see image)? Hint: the Mulvane Art Museum at Washburn University owns one of the original prints and it was exhibited during our 2005 exhibit, Treasures of Topeka.

Image (c) Art in America, 2008.

They're here!  Check out all the hot new titles that are available in Large Print.  There's a little something for everyone with non-fiction, detective, romance, and inspirational works.  You can get on the reserve list today or check out a 14-day express copy if available.  Don't see a particular title? Check with our friendly Red Carpet staff to see if it's on the shelf.

Non-Fiction:

• Audition: A Memoir by Barbara Walters

Fiction:

• Smoke Screen by Sandra Brown
• Swine Not: A Pig's Tale by Jimmy Buffet
• Nothing to Lose by Lee Child
• The Front by Patricia Cornwell
• Careless in Red by Elizabeth George
• Blue Smoke and Murder by Elizabeth Lowell
• Executive Priviledge by Phillip Margolin
• Hide and Seek by Fern Michaels
• Resolution by Robert B. Parker
• Sail by James Patterson
• Irish Thoroughbred by Nora Roberts

Our murals remind us of something we experienced together (either in the past or as a group of painters) and give us a guidepost for what we're working toward.

Murals in public spaces are exciting. Not only do they add new life to old buildings, they often tell stories about important events, historical figures and offer visitors a peek into the culture of the place they're visiting. Mural art seems to inherently capture the values and visions of a community.

Topeka now has three major murals (two are complete and one is underway). One honors Aaron Douglas, Topeka native and Harlem Renaissance artist. Another exists to draw attention to restoring Topeka's Constitution Hall, our town's oldest building and site for the first convention of Free-Staters in 1855. The third tells the history of Chesney Park, a neighborhood undergoing improvement through weeding out blighted buildings and overgrown lots and seeding it with new opportunity for everyone living in the area.

Probably the most touching element to these murals is how they've brought our community together physically (each was painted by multiple community members) and philosophically (if we're going to grow together let's identify what's important to us and put it up for everyone to see). Our murals remind us of something we experienced together (either in the past or as a group of painters) and give us a guidepost for what we're working toward.

The Great Topeka Wall Mural is looking for volunteers to help paint—click here for information.

Suggested viewing ...

(this is just a start ... searching mural art in the TSCPL catalog yeilds 54 titles!):

• Sunflower Journeys: Muralists Produced by KTWU, this 2003 episode features the Kansas Murals Project and an interview with David Lowenstein, artist and creator of The Great Topeka Wall Mural. Click picture below to go to the Library catalog and reserve the DVD or VHS:
  

... and reading from the Library's collection:

• Murals: Walls That Sing 
• Art for the People 
• Graffiti Women: Street Art from Five Continents 
• The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages 
• Roy Lichtenstein: Times Square Mural 
• Diego Rivera: The Detroit Industry Murals 
• The Ajanta Caves: Artistic wonder of ancient Buddhist India 
• Rethinking Regionalism: John Steuart Curry and the Kansas Mural Controversy