Calendar
Check here for all of the upcoming events at UCPL. If you have questions about any of them, give us a call at 314-727-3150.
Join us for a fascinating online discussion with Smithsonian Curator Mary Savig on the history and significance of craft at state fairs—from blue-ribbon quilts to sculpted butter cows, and so much more!
A Dolly Parton crop art portrait. Size-96 cowboy boots. A button quilt. State Fairs: Growing American Craft features more than 100 photos of extraordinary and unconventional crafts from state and tribal fairs, including needlework, basketry, jewelry, ceramics, crop art, butter sculpture, and saddles. The catalog highlights personal stories and regional and cultural traditions, creating a vibrant portrait of American life. Come one, come all! State Fairs has a little something for everyone.
Join us for a special visit from Eddy Harris, author of Mississippi Solo, an account of his journey by canoe down the entire length of the Mississippi River. Born in the Midwest and educated at Stanford University, Harris has been Writer in Residence and professor of English, Creative Writing, and African American Studies at esteemed institutions including Washington University in St. Louis and Goucher College in Maryland. He has traveled extensively the world, often in the most precarious conditions, and while he remains a simple Midwesterner at heart, he currently lives in France. He counts Mark Twain as one of his favorite writers.
This program is part of the 2026 Adult Summer Reading Big Book Challenge. The project is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the Missouri State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
Join us for an online chat with Matt Dinniman, New York Times bestselling author of the wildly popular (and just plain wild) Dungeon Crawler Carl series, discussing his latest book, A Parade of Horribles.
As chaos and mass panic spread outside the dungeon in the wake of Faction Wars, Carl and Donut find themselves on the tenth floor, where they’re forced to compete in a surprisingly normal set of tasks. Well, normal for the dungeon.
Races. Get from point A to point B, and don’t come in last. After each race, they pick an upgrade for their vehicle and the track gets more challenging. It all seems a little too normal, a little too simple.
Ignore those strange glitches that are occurring with increasing frequency. Don’t listen to those whispers about what’s happening on the mysterious eleventh floor, something the system AI calls A Parade of Horribles. Nobody, not even the showrunners, knows what that means. Just that the AI has ominously dubbed it “a coming-out party for the ages.”
Everything is fine, Crawler. I repeat, everything is fine.
Carl hates that it’s business as usual. The rules of this floor have taken away his agency. That just will not do.
So Carl is planning a party of his own. It’s a plan so dangerous, so insane, he can’t even consult his friends lest the AI put a stop to it. Because if it goes wrong, it’s not just the end of Carl and Donut. No. The stakes are higher than they’ve ever been.
Join us online as we chat with Sana Javeri Kadri and Asha Loupy about The Diaspora Spice Co. Cookbook, which celebrates beautiful, simple, and seasonal cooking with 85 recipes adapted from India and Sri Lanka’s best family spice farms.
Diaspora Spice Co. sources the most flavorful, fresh spices in the world from 150 regenerative farms across South Asia—from elders, indigenous communities, young changemakers, and brilliant multi-generational farming families across India and Sri Lanka who are leading the way in sustainable and climate change–resistant agriculture. Filled with culinary storytelling, The Diaspora Spice Co. Cookbook highlights these farmers and their spices with profiles and evocative photography, plus 85 recipes for simple, seasonal, and powerfully delicious meals.
