Plaza Branch and Central Library will open late at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17 due to the Kansas City Marathon.
Kansas City hosted its first World Cup match on June 16 at Arrowhead Stadium: Argentina versus Algeria.
Photo: Courtesy of World Cup KC Facebook group
Many people think of soccer as a sport to watch, but Eduardo Herrera considers it as something that you do.
“It’s in your blood, it’s in your skin, it's there,” said Herrera, a professor of folklore and ethnomusicology. On April 14, he spoke at the Library about soccer fans and support for their teams through singing, movement, and coordinated actions.
This was all vividly on display on June 16, as Kansas City hosted its first FIFA World Cup match at Kansas City Stadium, Argentina versus Algeria. And there are five more Kansas City matches to go.
For visitors to Kansas City during the World Cup — or longtime residents who want to explore something new — Library staff provide recommendations on what to do, where to go, and what to eat around their branches. This includes the Central Library, Westport, and Plaza locations near KC Streetcar stops.
Don’t miss M&M Bakery & Deli near the Bluford Branch for apple fritters or sandwiches, like the Hook Em’ Up (turkey, ham, and pastrami on an onion roll), or murals near the North-East Branch.
Several branches are hosting World Cup watch parties, including the Argentina versus Austria game on June 22 at 12 p.m. at the Waldo Branch, the Southeast Branch, and Central Library’s 28-seat movie theater inside a former bank vault.
Stop by any of the Library's 10 locations to catch a movie, check out materials, or just cool off.
Find all of the Library’s World Cup events here.
'A People’s History of Kansas City' podcast hosts on June 4 offered a behind-the-scenes look at what they learned about soccer’s history in Kansas City.
A People’s History of Kansas City Soccer! exhibition is on display on the first floor of the Central Library through October 4.
Tim Bascom spent half his childhood in Kansas and the other half in East Africa. Living and traveling around the world, soccer was his constant. On May 15, he discussed his latest book, The Boundless Game: Soccer Stories from Across the Street to Around the World, which explores why soccer matters in everyday life and how this simple yet extraordinary game brings people together.
For those who love soccer, it’s much more than a game. Dressed in scarves and jerseys, and painted in their team’s colors, fans wave flags and cheer on the players with special chants, emotions running high. That is to say: fans actively shape the drama, intensity, and meaning of the game itself.
On April 14, Eduardo Herrera, professor of folklore and ethnomusicology at Indiana University, discussed the most intense and expressive forms of fan support.
For much of its history, the United States asserted its exceptionalism and isolationism through sport, opting out of shared global sporting cultures to develop its own games — even going so far as proclaiming its domestic winners “world champions.”
Until recently, the top athletes in the country’s most popular sport, American football, didn’t represent the country in international competitions. They simply had no one to compete against. But this is starting to change.
On April 7, author Andrés Martinez discussed the convergence of football in his new book The Great Game: A Tale of Two Footballs and America’s Quest to Conquer Global Sport. He says the shift is happening right before our eyes.
