Host Michael Mackie sits down with Dr. Eric Dorfman, CEO & President of the Linda Hall Library, to discuss the 80th anniversary of the Linda Hall Library, their upcoming program and future strategic plans. Dr. Dorfman discusses the Arboretum and Arbor Day plans, the popularity of their sports analytics programs, including the upcoming program on soccer, and how he would like to see the Linda Hall Library become a 3-legged stool focusing on collections, public amenities and their own research within their organization. He also discusses Linda Hall Library’s first gift shop, opening every Saturday instead of just once a month and how the new streetcar extension will make their organization more accessible to residents and visitors alike.
Michael Mackie:
Hi everyone, it’s Michael Mackie here, coming to you from KC Studio. KC Studio and kcstudio.org is the only regional magazine and website entirely devoted to covering all arts all the time. I’m excited to work with KC Studio on this special podcast that will provide valuable insights into how public transit and the World Cup are shaping cultural expression and events in the heart of our city. So thanks for joining us on this month’s stop of KC Studio’s Artful Connections Along the Streetcar podcast presented by Arvest Bank and sponsored by TIVOL. We’ll be featuring some of Kansas City’s finest cultural arts and civic organizations each month that are along the recently extended Kansas City Streetcar route that now goes from the riverfront to the Country Club Plaza and UMKC. Streetcar riders are now able to hop on the streetcar at any of the stops and ride to and from their favorite exhibits and events throughout the year. So please take a ride with us.
Support for Artful Connections Along the Streetcar comes from Arvest Bank. Arvest Bank believes that financial confidence should be within reach for everyone. Whether you’re just getting started planning for your future or starting a new chapter, we are here to help you plan and meet your goals every step of the way. Because everyone deserves a financial partner who cares. Arvest Bank. We believe. For more information, visit arvest.com or visit one of our 20 locations throughout Kansas City.
Hi everyone. I’m here today with Dr. Eric Dorfman, president and CEO at the Linda Hall Library. The Linda Hall Library is one of the world’s leading independent science research libraries, and since 1946, the Linda Hall Library has been gathering collections that have powered investigation, innovation, exploration and inspiration. Today, it collects materials in 82 languages and is widely known for its role as an international destination for research and scholarship and its support of teachers of STEM curricula. It’s known as a Patent and Trademark Resource Center. So welcome today, my friend. It is great to see you. Talk to me. You have been the president for two years now. Is that right?
Eric Dorfman:
Thank you. It’s great to be here. And yeah, a little over, about two and a half. I came in July 2023.
Michael Mackie:
Nice. And congratulations. Needs to be said because you guys are celebrating your 80th. Linda Hall Library is celebrating your 80th anniversary. And when we were chatting earlier, I wanted to know, you hate it when people describe it as a hidden gem?
You would like to just be known as a gem. Tell me more about that.
Eric Dorfman:
Yeah, first of all, it’s great to be called a gem. And I think when people are talking about us being a hidden gem, it’s always in the context of “It is so wonderful. More people need to know about it.” And that’s one of the things that we are really doing as we reach our 80th year. We are doing a lot of things that are pivoting us to be more outward facing, more connected to the community. And also for a very long time, we’ve been most relevant to scholars, people who are studying the history of science, and now we’re broadening our audiences to families, to all kinds of people who are actively curious about science and trying to interpret our content for them out through exhibitions, through public programs, all kinds of things like that. So it’s going to be very different, and I’m very excited about the changes that are going to be happening in 2026 to celebrate our 80th year. I think people will really resonate with them.
Michael Mackie:
We will talk about that in a minute. But again, congratulations. Certainly a milestone. 80 minutes or 80 minutes, 80 years. Your background is in tourism and museums, and that’s what you did kind of before you came to the Linda Hall Library. But what I want to know is how have you been able to utilize sort of your background to transform the library since you arrived?
Eric Dorfman:
Yeah, thank you. And yes, I have had a very long history in natural history museums, internationally as well as in the United States. And one of the things that the trustees were thinking about when they brought me on was this transforming us from being a sort of scholarly research center to more of a cultural institution. And so I’m bringing a lot of my background in exhibitions and sort of a public voice, public amenity to the work that we’re doing at Linda Hall. So we’re keeping our legacy. We’re always going to be a library of course, but we’re doing things in a very different way. So the result is a little bit of a unicorn, really.
Michael Mackie:
I love that.
Eric Dorfman:
Thank you. We are going to be very exhibition focused, which is one of the things that is important, but also connecting people. We’re on a 14-acre arboretum and really connecting people to the living collection that is out in the arboretum and trying to have an interplay between what’s going on inside and outside. And there’ll be other things happening next year, like our very first gift shop, which will be–
Michael Mackie:
Look at you!
Eric Dorfman:
Yeah, right?
Michael Mackie:
Very first gift shop.
Eric Dorfman:
Yeah, I know. So it’ll be–
Michael Mackie:
It only took you 80 years, but we’re there.
Eric Dorfman:
Right? No, that’s right. But the thing is that the point about this is that while we are keeping our legacy, some of the things that are very common to other kinds of cultural institutions will now be at Linda Hall as well. And so people I think will start to think of us differently from the way it’s always been.
Michael Mackie:
Support for Artful Connections Along the Streetcar comes from TIVOL. For more than a century, TIVOL has helped Kansas City mark treasured moments and create cherished memories with fine jewelry of the highest quality. Visit us at our Country Club Plaza or Hawthorne Plaza locations or online at tivol.com. TIVOL is proud to be a sponsor of this special podcast and to celebrate our city’s vibrant arts community.
And you were talking about exhibitions. Speaking of exhibitions, you have hosted quite a few of ’em, like “Life Beyond Earth.”
Eric Dorfman:
Yes.
Michael Mackie:
Multiple lectures. I’m putting you on the spot here. Do you have a favorite program or exhibit that you’ve had since your arrival? And more importantly, what type of programming? We talked a little bit about that, but what type of programming do you want to provide in 2026? Oh, and beyond?
Eric Dorfman:
Yes. Yes. So my background, I do have a PhD in Wildlife Ecology. So the exhibitions that are most connected to my background, my personal passion, the first one that I was involved with when I came was called Chain to the Sky, the Science of Birds Past and Future. But I will say that it was an absolute bucket list filling thrill to have Elizabeth Kolbert onstage. I interviewed her. She’s the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Sixth Extinction. And it’s that kind of thing. Bringing people who have achieved such a great amount in their careers to the public for these programs is really probably the biggest thrill for me in this role.
Michael Mackie:
Complete sidebar, why birds?
Eric Dorfman:
Why birds? Well, I did my PhD on birds.
Michael Mackie:
As one does.
Eric Dorfman:
Right? As one does. Everybody should really do a PhD on birds. But actually my supervisor, I went to the University of Sydney in Australia for my PhD, and I connected to an advisor there. And we discussed the kind of interactions that he was very interested in with fish dynamics, because he’s an ichthyologist, and he said, look, I think you should study the predators of the fish that I’m looking at. And it’s been from thinking about waterbirds that eat fish to urban birds and birds like egrets and spoonbills and ibises that are big, but also impacted by things that are happening on Florida’s waterways, all kinds of things that it’s been a real privilege to be looking at, at different times during my career.
Michael Mackie:
I feel like you could talk about birds forever.
Eric Dorfman:
Don’t tempt me.
Michael Mackie:
Let’s stay on task, Doc. The more you know, NBC logo, shooting star.
Eric Dorfman:
Right, yes.
Michael Mackie:
That’s it. So I hear that you are team virtual events. You’re trying to get a little bit more robust with your virtual events coming up. Can you tell us about how you’re going to achieve that goal?
Eric Dorfman:
So the virtual events are sort of an, well for so many people, an offshoot of COVID, where we really leaned very heavily into doing things online. We’ve got a robust YouTube channel, and that’s really, most of our interviews and other performances are on our YouTube channel, so that’s great. We’re also doing things like a fairly new program of online exhibitions. So if you can’t come in and see something, people all around the world are looking at our online exhibitions, and of course there’s searchable content of all kinds.
Michael Mackie:
It’s the wave of the future.
Eric Dorfman:
It really is, and it’s important. Well, for instance, we’re doing this not just by sound. We’re doing this visually as well. And that’s much more the kind of thing we are leaning into. And we’ve got a great team that is strategizing internally about how to rethink what we’re doing for a digital world.
Michael Mackie:
You’ve got an upcoming public program, and I want to make sure I get this right — “Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of Our Future,” and that’s going to open next month, March 19th. So what I want to know is, can you speak to the importance of this program, and basically it’s a celebration of Arbor Day.
Eric Dorfman:
Yeah, so Arbor Day, it’s actually Dan Lewis, the author of “Twelve Trees,” will be with us on April 30th. And so we only get him, unfortunately, I’d love to do a whole program around him, but we get him for one night. But he’s a huge hero of mine, and I’m very excited about his new book. So he’ll be coming to us. But then also on May 3rd, we have a family day in the arboretum also celebrating Arbor Day. And for us, having an arboretum. Really then leaning into
Michael Mackie:
Thats a nifty novelty.
Eric Dorfman:
It is. And when I talk about us being a unicorn, part of the thing around that is there are very few libraries with gardens. That’s not something that you see a lot and is certainly unique for Kansas City. And so we’re inviting people in to come and share the experience, to look at wildlife, to know who’s out there doing stuff in the sort of natural space, if you like. And it’s what better time of year than something that everybody’s heard of, Arbor Day, that there is already a national structure around. So we are really leaning into that to give people a better sense of awareness for the stuff we’re doing. So a lot of conservation, a lot of really cool things going to be happening, as well as launching a new type of collection around that time too.
Michael Mackie:
Look at you!
Eric Dorfman:
It’ll be just great and giving people an opportunity to engage in a very different way. So this is all to come, but I am thrilled to, I know Dan Lewis personally, he’s at the Huntington in Los Angeles, and he’s just the greatest guy and a fantastic speaker. So we’re really excited to have him with us.
Michael Mackie:
And I did not know this. We were talking beforehand. I mean, you gotta love an author, because you have authored how many books?
Eric Dorfman:
Five so far, working on another one.
Michael Mackie:
Congratulations.
Eric Dorfman:
Thank you. Thank you very much. So yeah, I’ve published on New Zealand natural history, climate change and museum, kind of museum philosophy if you like.
Michael Mackie:
What’s your upcoming one about?
Eric Dorfman:
Well, it’s a book on books, actually.
Michael Mackie:
Of course it is!
Eric Dorfman:
Of course it is, right? That’s right. So I’m really excited to be kind of, well, sharing my ideas about books and where I think the future of books lies from the perspective of leading an institution that’s pretty book forward. So yeah, it’s going to be great.
Michael Mackie:
Well, congratulations.
Eric Dorfman:
I hope it’s going to be great.
Michael Mackie:
Good. Excellent. You also have another upcoming exhibit called “The Alchemy of Knowledge.” And from what I understand, it’s about the transformative nature of thought. I’m going to need you to elaborate on it.
Eric Dorfman:
Right, right. So it’s sort of, when I’m showing people this on a slideshow, I have a beautiful picture of the artwork of this show is just amazing. And then my next slide is, “Science is disruption.” And that’s the idea behind this whole show. So if you think about the Middle Ages, people were very connected to a sense of mysticism, and whether that was mediated by the church or by a misunderstanding of the natural world, there were a lot of assumptions that later on, say a hundred years later, 200 years later, during the Renaissance, people created structures, which we now call modern science, to test people’s innate ideas about the world and often found them incorrect. So you have people like Galileo, Francis Bacon–
Michael Mackie:
Look at you dropping names.
Eric Dorfman:
Right? Well, and the thing that people also don’t realize about the Linda Hall, we have first editions of all of this. We’ve got copies of Galileo with his own handwriting in it. So there’s some pretty cool stuff that people will get to see. But what’s also a bit different is that we’re creating immersive environments. People may come, if people came to see Life Beyond Earth, which was about life on other planets, you would have been able to go into a spaceship and see specimens from other planets. This is the kind, and it was very popular, incredibly popular. So we are doing immersive environments, some surprising ones that I think are going to be a lot of fun where we’re taking inspiration from all kinds of places. like Meow Wolf, if people know what that is or–
Michael Mackie:
I do love me some Meow Wolf.
Eric Dorfman:
Right? It’s fantastic. But also Rabbit Hole. They’ve been such a leader in this immersive space idea in Kansas City. So that’s been great. So people will be able to experience this idea that the Middle Ages was transformed by the work that was done in the Renaissance in a very sort of visceral, emotive way. And then we’re also connecting, that’s why it’s called its subtitle, it’s “The Alchemy of Knowledge” Science and Mystery from Shakespeare to AI.” So Shakespeare plays a big part because he was there during this transformation. And then AI, when you think about the way it is transforming our world now and the way we think differently about connecting to science and the internet, those are kinds of things that we want to challenge people to think about. So really increasingly to Linda Hall is becoming an institution of ideas, not just books. And getting people to connect with these bigger concepts in science is very satisfying for us within the institution, but I think it is going to be very exciting for people generally.
Michael Mackie:
Support for Artful Connections Along the Streetcar comes from Arvest Bank. Arvest Bank believes that financial confidence should be within reach for everyone. Whether you’re just getting started planning for your future or starting a new chapter, we are here to help you plan and meet your goals every step of the way. Because everyone deserves a financial partner who cares. Arvest Bank. We believe. For more information, visit arvest.com or visit one of our 20 locations throughout Kansas City.
Shifting gears a little bit, the Linda Hall Library has, well, it has stunning mid-century modern architecture.
Eric Dorfman:
Yes, it does. It’s really beautiful.
Michael Mackie:
Are you just gobsmacked every time you walk in the doors?
Eric Dorfman:
Well, honestly, yeah. I love doing that. I tend to walk in, usually from the staff entrance at the back, and then I am in my office. But when I do get the chance to just walk in from the front, it’s like you can almost hear the angels singing. It’s so beautiful. Right? It’s just a lovely, lovely space. It’s double story height. It’s very open and airy and it’s been a space that has been able to be put to many different kinds of service, which is just fantastic.
Michael Mackie:
Speaking of, are you amenable to corporate events and weddings and things like that? I mean, is that a utilitarian space?
Eric Dorfman:
Yeah, it really is. And this is something that is also pretty new for us. When I talk about how we’re transforming, one of the things that we are doing is giving people opportunities to rent the space out. We had a wedding there in September, which was fantastic. We’ve got all kinds of different sorts of spaces and people use them for board meetings, or even there’s some lovely spaces that people just have dinner amongst friends. There’s all kinds of things to do. And the one thing about that is that it seems that the people who are most invested in using the space are those who are invested in the kinds of things we do. The wedding couple were really connected to the ideas of science, they knew the Linda Hall already, and so it had a lot of personal meaning. And the other thing is too, we can also add on things like rare book viewings.
Michael Mackie:
Oh, nice.
Eric Dorfman:
Or tours through exhibitions. So there’s a lot of, say, deeper experience than you might have compared to a different kind of venue that may be just a standard wedding venue.
Michael Mackie:
And let’s not even forget about the arboretum. I mean, you could throw quite the outdoor wingding.
Eric Dorfman:
Well, we also have, as part of the arboretum, a really stunning formal courtyard, which we’ve had many corporate events there, and it’s just a beautiful, elegant place with 19th-century gates that have been imported from Paris. Wrought iron. It’s really just a lovely, sophisticated area.
Michael Mackie:
Since the streetcar expansion sort of expanded at the end of October, how do you think that’s going to impact attendance? Or do you think you’re going to get more residents or more visitors?
Eric Dorfman:
I think both. To be fair, this is something that’s really exciting for us to be able for people to be able to go from the River Market to our front door without ever having to get into a car. This is a really, we think transformative for the kinds of opportunities, and not only the kinds of opportunities, but the way people will think about using Linda Hall. Right now, what are we doing this weekend? Well, we’re going to go to the Nelson-Atkins. Well, let’s go to Linda Hall while we’re at Nelson-Atkins. It’s right there. So this is a very, it’s still so new. We’re still figuring out how to leverage that to its fullest. But it’s definitely a wonderful opportunity. And we’ve been, over the last couple of years I’ve been here, I’ve been watching it creep further and further south, getting very excited, and we’re really ready to make the most of it now.
Michael Mackie:
Support for Artful Connections Along the Streetcar comes from TIVOL. For more than a century, TIVOL has helped Kansas City mark treasured moments and create cherished memories with fine jewelry of the highest quality. Visit us at our Country Club Plaza or Hawthorne Plaza locations or online at tivol.com. TIVOL is proud to be a sponsor of this special podcast and to celebrate our city’s vibrant arts community.
I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but World Cup is literally right around the corner.
Eric Dorfman:
I know.
Michael Mackie:
No pressure.
Eric Dorfman:
It’s crazy.
Michael Mackie:
No pressure. What are your plans? I mean, you’re going to have tens of hundreds of thousands of visitors in town.
Eric Dorfman:
Well, there will be, and this is one of the things that we really have to ask ourselves. So first I will say May 6th. So leading up to that…
Michael Mackie:
Right.
Eric Dorfman:
We will have a fantastic program on soccer analytics, where our sports analytics programs have been really wildly popular. They always sell out.
Michael Mackie:
You had like an NFL…?
Eric Dorfman:
That’s right.
Michael Mackie:
Tell me a little bit about that. What was that?
Eric Dorfman:
Well, we had, so it’s always a panel of experts for the NFL show. We had Mike Pinnel there, who was fantastic, and a number of other really very knowledgeable people to come and give their different perspectives on what’s happening in their area. So we have somebody who is involved with wiring up the helmet to understand impact. There’s all kinds of people looking at the actual analytics. And I’m
Michael Mackie:
You did behind the scenes of behind the scenes?
Eric Dorfman:
Very much so. Very, very much so. And so honestly, whether you’re interested in the particular sport or not, the sophistication that the technology has developed around that sport has been, it is absolutely a fascinating listen. And we also look at baseball. Of course, the Royals are such a resonant team here. So we’ve done baseball in my time a couple of times, and we’ve done NFL and now we’ve got soccer, but we’re always going to return. And I also really want to give a shout-out to the sports teams here too, because they’re so generous with their time too. It’s a really great opportunity to connect people, not just with the festival atmosphere of sporting, but really thinking about more deeply the strategy behind it. And so we’ll keep doing it. And I suspect we’ll circle back to NFL in ’27.
Michael Mackie:
All roads lead to Sports Ball. That’s my motto.
Eric Dorfman:
Yes, exactly. That’s right.
Michael Mackie:
And I totally interrupted you. We didn’t even get to talk about your plans for the World Cup. What are you guys planning for 2026? That’s my bad.
Eric Dorfman:
Right. No, no, no, that’s fine. I was going to wax a little philosophically here, because you have to think about the audience segments that are going to come, and I’m not necessarily sure that people who are coming for World Cup will be as interested in Linda Hall Library and the thinking around science that we are able to provide. We are still considering that. But what I think we are going to be very good at is offering a counterpoint. So we want to be part of the entire Kansas City tourism effort by creating a rich tapestry of opportunities rather than saying, we are going to focus solely on soccer. We’re going to pull those things out. But here’s the other thing too. If you have sports fans or team members from, I’m just going to pick a country, how about Italy? We can bring out things that Italians would be very excited about like seeing First Edition Galileo, for instance. So that’s something that will potentially resonate to people from overseas, but still be something that has a universal language for people who are here too. And that’s one of the things too that we are, although we are very Kansas City focused, we also have an international purview, and we are probably going to lean in a little bit more to that next year too. And with Alchemy of Knowledge, which will be our major show during the World Cup, it’s got enough spectacle and sophistication for anybody coming from anywhere. So I’m really proud of that, and we’re really going to lean into that. The other thing that’s critical, we will be, we’re currently open only the second Saturday of the month. From sometime spring next year, we will be open every Saturday, which is going to really increase our availability as a cultural venue. And I’m sure that will also help during the World Cup to get people in more frequently.
Michael Mackie:
What’s on your wishlist? Do you have something on your wishlist for the next few years? I’m throwing caution to the wind here. What do you want to see at Linda Hall Library?
Eric Dorfman:
Yeah, the biggest thing we are going to be doing is leaning more into not only our institution as a public amenity and some of the things that I talked about we’re already doing, but also being able to do research inhouse. We are very blessed to be a short walk from Stowers and from MRIGlobal. And also we have these basic resources, incredible depth in science. We also have the living collection, which can be the basis of a science program. So marrying, I think of it like a three-pointed, three-legged stool. We have the collections, we have the increasing public amenity, and the third leg is going to be the ability to do research from within our organization. So if you asked for my wishlist, that’s what it’s going to be.
Michael Mackie:
Duly noted. And the other thing that’s kind of funny, you’re kid-friendly, very kid-centric. You do the Kansas City Invention Convention.
Eric Dorfman:
That’s right. That’s right.
Michael Mackie:
So I want to know more about that. Has that always been the case, or are you ramping up?
Eric Dorfman:
Well, this is year six, and we started very small. I think there may have been, I might have the number slightly wrong, but about 12 participants in its first year. And of course there was the whole COVID intersection and things like that. But we now have grown so quickly that we are about 500 participants. We are the largest science-based competition in the region, which is great.
Michael Mackie:
Pat self on back.
Eric Dorfman:
Yes. Right? Exactly. Well, I can’t pat myself because we’ve had such an amazing team that’s been doing that. Our education team is truly wonderful. So what we are doing, so you know that the Kansas City Invention Convention is the Kansas City branch of the Invention Convention run out of the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. And they’re encouraging us to cover not just Kansas City, but all of Missouri and Kansas. So we’d have two full states. Well, you couldn’t possibly fit those into Swinny Gym on the UMKC campus. So what we are really thinking about doing here, and is what we’d have to do in order to grow this much, is having a lot more in-class presence. So our educators will go out to classrooms and help them innovate, but also have heats within schools. And then we have the say, Midwestern finals here, and then they would go and compete, potentially the winners of that would compete in Michigan. So that’s one thing that’s really important. But another thing that probably people, I mean, it’s really well-known now that the KCIC is within school kids, such a ubiquitous thing. But what people may not know is that we also have a very robust program of teacher education. So helping teachers educate through innovation and get them interested in STEM through, get kids interested in STEM through something
Michael Mackie:
Right. High school.
Eric Dorfman:
Something that has the relevance
Michael Mackie:
Right. It’s the high school students as well. Not just kids.
Eric Dorfman:
That’s right.
Right, exactly. And if you’re inventing something that solves a real world problem, and you can go and compete in it, it makes STEM relevant in a way that maybe many other ways of learning aren’t quite as much. So I think it’s wonderful.
Michael Mackie:
Well, I just want to say, this has all been very insightful. Thank you so much, Dr. Dorfman, for joining us on our monthly Artful Connections Along the Streetcar podcast.
Eric Dorfman:
Thank you. It’s been great being here. I appreciate it. Thanks.
Michael Mackie:
Thank you so much for joining us today on our monthly stop of the Artful Connections along the Streetcar podcast presented by Arvest Bank and sponsored by TIVOL. You can find this podcast and our future stops wherever you find your favorite podcast. As a reminder, this is Michael Mackie for KC Studio, Kansas City’s only full-time magazine, website, and e-newsletter with professional journalists covering the cultural arts region. Go to kcstudio.org to check out all our upcoming arts events, our latest podcasts, and to sign up now to receive your free, yes, just like the streetcar, your free magazine, six times a year in your mailbox, or to receive our weekly newsletters at kcstudio.org/subscribe. Thanks for riding with us during this month’s episode.
