photo by: Contributed

The Lawrence Public Library's "World Cup Warm Up" event series hopes to connect the community with the history and culture of other countries like Argentina and Algeria. The first event about Argentina's soccer history will take place at the library on Saturday, April 18 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

With the eyes of the world turned to the United States during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Lawrence Public Library hopes to turn local eyes onto the world with a series of events that explores the cultures and people who will make up the tournament.

The library’s series of events — called the “World Cup Warm Up” — will feature expert talks that will give residents a chance to connect with the history and culture of both the sport of soccer and some of the nations in Lawrence and Kansas City.

Terese Winters, an informational services librarian with the library, said the first event in the series “Gauchos in the Heartland,” which will take place at the library Saturday from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., focuses on Argentina — who is one of the four national teams that will stay in the Kansas City-area during the World Cup. Robert Rodriguez, a KU alum and Argentine-American who is a professor at East Texas A&M University, will lead a discussion touching on the country’s soccer history and World Cup success.

Winters said the goal for the library with the series of events is to “focus on the ‘world’ aspect of the World Cup.” Along with a pair of author talks that focus specifically on soccer, Winters said the series will host events that focus on Algerian culture because Lawrence will host the team during the tournament. The library will host Introduction to Arabic and Introduction to French language classes and an introduction to Algerian culture that features a screening of an Algerian film.

In addition to those events, Winters said the library has provided a curated reading list focusing on Algerian history and culture, and the summer reading program will also feature events that “connect with other cultures” during the World Cup.

“It’s a great time for us in Lawrence to show we are engaged and curious about the world,” Winters said.

Winters said the event series would not be possible without the collaboration of University of Kansas departments like the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies or the Kansas African Studies Center at KU. She said it has been a great opportunity for merging the campus and community, making the international experts “more accessible to everyone in the community.”

Other events in the series are:

• Introduction to Arabic: 1 p.m., April 28;

• Introduction to Algerian culture and film: 2 p.m., May 7;

• Introduction to French: 1:30 p.m., May 13;

• Tim Bascom & The Boundless Game: 7 p.m., May 28;

• Soccer Talk with Nate Bukaty: 6:30 p.m., June 3

Additional information about the events can be found at the library’s website. Some of the events require registration to attend, but the “Gauchos in the Heartland” event on Saturday is open to all without reservations.