The Linda Hall Library

The Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering, and Technology is an invaluable resource for the greater Kansas City area. Their slogan, "Where Science Lives," is a fitting descriptor for the research library offering thousands of resources for those studying technology, engineering, and science. Research librarians are on site ready to help students and adults alike as they delve into projects. Students may consider a visit to the library to research their ideas.

The facility is a research library, home to a beautiful 14-acre arboretum, and a facilitator of amazing online resources for S.T.E.M. learners.

This year, the library is hosting the KC Invention Convention, a new competition for students from 4th-12th grade in the Kansas City area. Learn more about KC Invention Convention here.

If you're unfamiliar with the Linda Hall Library, what do you need to know?

The Research Library

I recently visited with Library President, Lisa Browar, and learned about this remarkable facility that is home to a vast collection of resources, all available to local researchers and conveniently located in the heart of the city. Lisa likes to tell visitors that the library is "across the street from UMKC," as it truly is surrounded by the university on all sides. The library is its own private institution, and not affiliated with the school, though it is certainly a great resource for students as well as all Kansas Citians who want to learn more about the fields of technology, science, or engineering.

The library isn't your traditional local library with stacks of books to explore. The collection at the library includes materials that visitors may browse, as well as a vast closed stack collection. The research library hosts visitors who work directly with research librarians who use their vast knowledge and experience to help you find the best resources for your project. The collection includes several thousand volumes of S.T.E.M. content. The information is highly technical and serves researchers who are mostly adults, but they will happily help anyone and have notably helped many local high school students working on science projects. To use the resources, you visit the reference desk, provide an I.D., and are issued a borrower's card so you may use the system. Currently, they are open on an appointment basis only for research, but the online catalog is open round the clock and they offer drive-by pick up. 

Lisa shared the story of a former high school student working on a project to exploring her passion for meteorology and falling in love with the library in the process. The young woman is now a teacher at St. Teresa's Academy who shares the library with her science students and encourages them to use its vast resources on their learning adventures.

In addition to the physical library, Linda Hall Library offers other fantastic resources for S.T.E.M. learners. Specifically, their Online Exhibitions and their "How Do I Become ____?" Series are wonderful for young people!

"How Do I Become ______ ?" Series

One of the library's coolest programs is their "How Do I Become ______ ?" Series. The series is offered on the 4th Friday of Feb, Mar and Apr 2021 bringing new programs soon. The series is recorded and available online for students.

Experts in various S.T.E.M. fields share the ins-and-outs of becoming a S.T.E.M. professional. They tell their personal stories of how they chose their career and prepared for it, as well as the academic expectations and what the job entails. This is an excellent series for students as they prepare for their own futures.

Some of the presentations include:

• How Do I Become a Rocket Scientist?
• How Do I Become an Engineer?
• How Do I Become a Meteorologist?
• How Do I Become a Forensic Scientist?
• How Do I Become an Inventor and Entrepreneur?
• How Do I Become a Computer Scientist?

In addition to this series, they offer additional lectures and presentations feeding a love of science. A few I recommend include:

• Science Matters Lunch & Learn: Behind the Scenes at the Kansas City Zoo
• Astronomy: What’s Up in the Sky for 2021
• Why Prairie Matters: New Relevancies of a Vanishing Landscape
• Sharks – Emperors of the Deep: The Ocean’s Most Mysterious, Most Misunderstood, and Most Important Guardians
• Monarch Butterfly Conservation

And, this is just the tip of the iceberg! Truly, you'll find educational videos on many topics of interest. This is a terrific resource for budding scientists.

Online Exhibits

A few of the Linda Hall Library Online Exhibitions include:

• Flying Machines: A History of Early Aviation: When Orville and Wilbur Wright first flew their airplane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in December 1903, transportation moved at a slow pace. Railroad steam engines, automobiles, and steamboats averaged from 5 to 20 miles per hour. But within a generation of the Wright Brother’s invention, aviation had developed into transatlantic flights and forever changed the social, cultural, and economic fabric of the world. Flying Machines explores the history of heavier-than-air flight from the 18th century to the 1910s.
• The Transcontinental Railroad: In the 1860s, the building of the Pacific Railway, the first transcontinental railroad, united the continent and utterly changed life in America. This site chronicles the building of the railroad and provides information on the history of 19th-century railroad technology. The site also features an interactive timeline and links to the full text of the Library’s collection of 19th-century American railroad journals.
• Ribbons Across the Land: Building the U.S Interstate Highway System: Canals and rivers; railroads; the Goods Roads Movement; Italy’s autostrada and especially Germany’s Autobahn, a highway project that inspired President Eisenhower to push for a U.S. Interstate Highway System.
• Nature’s Fury: The Science of Natural Disasters: No place on earth is immune from natural disasters from tornadoes, heat waves, and droughts to floods, ice storms, volcanoes, and earthquakes. Nature’s Fury explores the science behind these natural disasters and how science has attempted to understand them.
• The Land Divided, The World United: Building the Panama Canal: The building of the Panama Canal was one of the greatest civil engineering achievements in American history. This site explores the dynamic period of canal building through the eyes of Office Engineer A. B. Nichols, who lived and worked in Panama from 1904 until the Canal opened in 1914. The exhibition features essays, images, an interactive timeline, and links to digitized material from the Nichols Collection.
• Paper Dinosaurs 1824-1969: Dinosaurs have excited the public imagination ever since the first dinosaur was described in 1824. This exhibition features original printed materials related to the history of dinosaur discovery.
• Connecting the Dots: The Science of CSI: High-profile murder cases and popular television programs such as CSI, Bones, and Forensics Files have brought the laboratory work of forensic scientists into mainstream popular culture. Connecting the Dots explores the history of several disciplines within forensic science: fingerprints, chemistry, biology, firearms, photography, and trace evidence.
• And MANY more! Check them out at: www.lindahall.org/online-exhibitions

More Resources for Middle & High School Students: 

The Linda Hall Library's online resources encompass additional resources for your students:

• STEM Quizzes
• The library has hosted many lectures over the years, you may watch past lectures on an array of subjects here: www.lindahall.org/videos/

The 14-Acre Arboretum

The grounds surrounding the library are home to a beautiful 14-acre Arboretum that is free and open to the public. The only rules are that you use the grounds when the gates are open (daytime hours), picnics and food are not permitted, and they ask that you clean up after dogs. The grounds are especially love in the spring and autumn and are a favorite place for exercise, quiet respite, dog walks, photographers, and nature lovers. This is a great place to enjoy a beautiful green space in the heart of the city.

The Linda Hall Library has been one of our city's most treasured academic resources for decades, and they offer much for families to enjoy and encourage a love of science as well.