State Library of Kansas

08/29/2026

Congratulations! Yesterday, the Kansas Book Festival awarded Technology and Book grants to support Kansas Libraries across the state. We were glad to host the celebration! Check the Festival's website for more information. L-R: Lara Avery, Kansas Book Festival Director; Ray Walling, State Librarian of Kansas; Deborah Cranshaw, Altoona-Midway USD elementary school librarian; Stacy Markley & Nancy Evans representing volunteer-led Dwight Library, Morgan Menefee, Paola Public Library Director; Kia Boyd, KSSB KS institute Resource Center, and Stacy Harrison, Shawnee Heights Elementary Librarian.

08/28/2026

Celebrate Kansas' literary life at the 2026 Kansas Book Festival, Saturday, Sept. 26, on the Washburn University campus, 1719 Plass, Topeka, KS. Come for storytelling and activities all ages (and reading genre), stay for the community and . Click the link for more information, https://kansasbookfestival.com Kansas Talking Books Service Kansas Tourism

08/27/2026

Snapshots from the 2026 National Book Festival (NBF) hosted in Washington D. C. August 22 and featuring Great Reads from Great Places … every U.S. State and territory. Kansas sent Lindsay Hanson Metcalf’s “Outdoor Farm, Indoor Farm” and ’s “The Last Rancher” to represent our great literary history and culture. Cool Fact: Kansan, Andrew Bannecker, is the artist who created this year’s NBF poster! America250 Institute of Museum and Library Services Kansas Tourism

08/26/2026

Join Kaye McIntyre's Sep. 2 conversation w/5th-generation Kansan, Lucas Bessire, and grown up Kansas farm-kid, Lindsay Hanson Metcalf! They'll talk about telling Kansas stories and maybe inspire YOU to tell your own. Registration & information link in comments. You must register (it's free!) to join the conversation and get your event link. Kansas Department of Agriculture Kansas Talking Books Service Kansas Public Radio Kansas Water Office Kansas Historical Society

08/25/2026

There has been a lot of excitement surrounding the opening of the new Independence Hall-inspired library at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. Ray, state librarian, visited the new Moritz Library and met the library staff to tour the 58,000 square foot academic library. Read on and find out why “There are so many opportunities for students to use the space in groups or individually and have the wonderful resources that a library can provide around them.”

There has been a lot of excitement surrounding the opening of the new Independence Hall-inspired library at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. The news caught the attention of the State of Kansas Librarian, Ray Walling, who came from the state capital in Topeka to tour the Moritz Library in D....

08/24/2026

You can help shape the future of Kansas libraries when you share your thoughts, ideas and experience in an upcoming focus group. Really. Your insight will help the folks at Greenbush Education Service Center identify future priorities, celebrate progress and hear what Kansans want/need in their libraries. Click the link in comments to register for a focus group based on your location (see the map) or your experience with Kansas Talking Books

08/22/2026

Register Today for the Sept. 2 Kansas250 online event celebrating Agriculture & Rural Life: Lucas Bessire, author of "Running Out" (2021 National Book Award finalist and 2022 Kansas Notable Book among others) and Lindsay H. Metcalf, author of "Outdoor Farm, Indoor Farm" (2025 Kansas Notable Book and 2026 Great Reads from Great Places selection), will discuss with Kansas Public Radio’s (KPR) Kaye McIntyre, host of KPR’s weekly public affairs program, Prairie Journal, how and why each author told their Kansas story. We hope you are inspired to tell your own Kansas story. Link in comments. Kansas Public Radio America250 Kansas Tourism Kansas Talking Books Service Kansas Water Office

08/20/2026

Cool Story Bro ... 100s of Cool Stories! The Library of Congress' National Book Festival will host authors from Ann Patchett, Martin Scorsese to Oz’s own Cynthia Erivo this Saturday in Washington D.C. Robert Rebein’s “The Last Rancher,” and Lindsay H. Metcalf’s “Outdoor Farm, Indoor Farm” are featured as Kansas' 2026 Great Reads from Great Places titles. "Great Reads" are selected from all U.S. states and 6 territories to highlight our country’s authors, cultures and regional heritages. https://www.loc.gov/events/2026-national-book-festival

The 2026 National Book Festival will be held in the nation's capital at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Saturday, August 22, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (doors open at 8:30 a.m.). The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are required. A selection of programs will be livestream...

08/19/2026

Guess who's in the Spotlight of Notable Kansans with August's KS250 Bookshelf! From Charles Curtis to Buck O'Neil, Amelia Earhart, Buffalo Bill and a most notorious charlatan. Check your local Kansas library, via interlibrary loan, the CloudLibrary shelf and in the Talking Books collections for all the tea. Link in comments. America250 Kansas Tourism OCLC Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum John “Buck” O’Neil Center Buffalo Bill Cultural Centerl