1205 Main - Hays, Kansas 67601

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Children's Dept - (785) 625-5916

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enorris@hayspublib.org

We celebrate National Poetry Month each April with a poetry contest. Read entries from the 2008 and 2007 contests here.

Major Donation from the Ross and Marianna Beach Foundation

The Ross and Marianna Beach Foundation has given a grant of $20,000 to the Hays Public Library for the purchase of books in the subject areas of art, autobiography, biography, children, culture, history, music, science and travel. The extraordinarily generous collection development grant was unexpected and critical to the acquisition of works in the areas of art and culture, whose prices tend to be high.

The first books to be added to the Hays Public Library Collection with the funds from this donation are:

• Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs
  By: Ansel Adams
  This book is a chronological compilation of many of Ansel Adams’ photographs. From his first photos in the 1920’s to his final photos in the 1960’s, this volume shows the evolution of a man who is still considered one of the top photographers of the 20th century.
   
• Chicago Under Glass: Early Photographs From the Chicago Daily News
  By: Mark Jacob and Richard Cahan
  Old photographs, forever frozen in glass negatives, are housed in the Chicago History Museum. This book brings early 20th century Chicago to life by publishing these images, some for the first time.
   
• Whiskey Tango Foxtrot:
  By: Ashley Gilbertson
  Twenty-five year old photographer Ashley Gilbertson risks life and limb to capture candid shots of the war in Iraq. His photos show true behind-the-scenes accounts of life behind enemy lines.
   
• Israel Through My Lens
  By: David Rubinger with Ruth Corman
  David Rubinger is an acclaimed photojournalist, and the recipient of the Israel Prize for services to the media. In this book, he chronicles his life through pictures and antidotes reflecting on his time in Israel, and the changes which occurred there.

• Maps: Finding Our Place in the World
  Edited By: James R. Akerman and Robert W. Karrow, Jr.
  The title of this book really says it all; it is a book about maps. This book gives a pictorial study of maps and the way they are used in the understanding of history. From lands to the heavens, this book shows how maps are not only informational but also interesting.
   
• Sustainable Landscape Construction
  By: J. William Thompson and Kim Sorvig
  This book shows environmentally friendly ways to brighten the world through landscape. From maintaining a healthy site to repairing damage, this book uses scientific research which responds to the ever growing concern for the environment.
   
• Circus
  By: Bruce Davidson
  One of the world's most influential photographers, Bruce Davidson, takes readers inside three midcentury big tops in images that are poetic, realistic and profound. He reveals not only the swiftly vanishing cultural phenomenon of the circus, but what might be called the eternal human circus. Most of these pictures are published here for the first time.

Now available for checkout: Playaway
The Next Generation of Audio Books

Half the size of a deck of cards and weighing only two ounces, each Playaway contains a single audio book, holding as much as 80 hours of content. With clearly marked buttons, listeners can adjust volume, move back and forth between chapters, and alter the speed of the narrator's voice. Playaway also has an automatic bookmark feature which remembers where you left off.

Playaway features a universal headphone jack that works with nearly every type of headphone or mobility accessory. Headphones are not included with the Playaway. Earbud headphones may be purchased for $1.00 at the Adult Dept. Circulation Desk, or you may use your own headphones.

The Playaway books are located next to the Adult Circulation Desk on the Main Floor of the Library.

Topeka Author Duane L. Herrmann reads from his book “By Thy Strengthening Grace: The First One Hundred Years of the Bahá’í Faith in Topeka, Kansas: 1906-2006”, which received the Ferguson Kansas History Book award for 2007.

FHSU's Creative Arts Society sponsored the visit of Chicago artist Jay Ryan and the display of his works. Jay spoke about his Silk-Screen Poster Art before a packed Gallery.

The Gallery frequently hosts musicians in free recitals. Students, amateurs, and talented professionals perform everything from classical to bluegrass to jazz.

The Unlikely Trio (left), three members of the National Symphony Orchestra, performed in the Gallery during the Orchestra's Kansas Residency this March.

FHSU's Cottonwood Project (right) annually brings three guest performers to Hays to perform with two FHSU faculty in a chamber setting.