| Library Name: | Kansas City, Kansas Public Library (KCKPL) |
| Library Logo: | File:Kansas_City,_Kansas_Public_Library_logo.png |
| Location: | Kansas City, Kansas |
| Num Branches: | 5 |
| Collection Size: | 775,800[1] |
| Annual Circulation: | 609,258 |
| Pop Served: | 169,245 |
| Director: | Carol Levers |
| Num Employees: | 111 |
| Website: | https://kckpl.org/ |
Kansas City, Kansas Public Library (KCKPL) is the public library system of Kansas City, Kansas, headquartered in the Main Library.[2] The library serves Wyandotte County, Kansas. It is governed by the Board of Education of Kansas City Kansas Public Schools (Unified School District 500) and reports to the Wyandotte County Library Board[3]
The library system consists of five branches and three mobile libraries:[4] [5]
The Kansas City, Kansas Public Library has received numerous awards including:
Kansas City, Kansas Public Library originated in 1855 when the Wyandotte Lyceum and Library Association was established to create a library in "Indian Country". Civil War veteran E.F. Heisler joined the effort in 1871 and established a small library in his office for a $1 fee. In 1873, the Wyandotte Library Association was formed to benefit this subscription library. As the library outgrew this space, it moved to the second floor of the Court Block building near 7th and Minnesota in 1893. The same year, the Board of Education began support and funding of the library. It took over governance of the library in 1899.
In 1897, Miss Elizabeth Dickinson served as the first librarian. That same year, Sarah Richart, a former teacher and president of the Federation of Clubs, proposed a tax on the dogs in the city to fund a new library and had herself appointed as the "dog enumerator". Upon her death in 1901, Richart left her estate to the city on the condition that the city dedicate a building to house a Free Public Library. Her donation, along with a $75,000 pledge from Andrew Carnegie, led to the construction of the Carnegie Library at Huron Place. It opened in 1904 under the direction of Mrs. Sarah Judd Greenman. The community embraced the new library, which featured a rose garden, fish pond, and museum. The building was adorned with carved heads of classic authors and poets and featured a life-size portrait of Mrs. Sarah Richart. In 1958 citizens recognized the need for a more modern library facility. A Bond Issue passed that year funding the library that is currently located at 625 Minnesota. The new facility opened in 1966 in a building that was shared with the Board of Education.
As the city grew, so did the library system. In 1910, the City of Argentine was annexed, and W. W. Thomas, through an agreement with local businesses, created a public library in a storefront with Miss Hazel Beeler was the first librarian. This new library soon became a branch of the Kansas City, Kansas Library, and in 1917 the city opened the Argentine Carnegie Library adjacent to Emerson Park. This facility survived the 1951 flood and, by the 1970s, housed the largest Spanish Language collection in the metro area. When the downtown Carnegie Library was demolished in 1958 to build the Main Library, it was the sole remaining Carnegie library in the city.[15] In 1998, it was added to National Register of Historic Places.The building served as both the public library and the school library for Emerson Elementary school until 2012. In 2012 the current South Branch opened at a cost of $6 million, one third of which was acquired by the fundraisers of local residents. The school district agreed to pay for the rest if residents raised $1.5 million to $2 million. A former grocery store was demolished to make way for the current library, and the school district took possession of the former library.
Demand for library service in the western part of the city led to the creation, in 1963, of a small library at the old Horniff School at 98th and state. In 1971, the library moved to a storefront library in the Wyandotte Plaza shopping center under the direction of Pat Gaunce. The storefront became popular with families, and soon the community needed a larger facility. In 1986 the new West Wyandotte Library was opened, featuring art gallery space and a new home for the Fine Arts department.
The library system began offering mobile library services to residents throughout the county in 1964. Over the years, service was provided via various vehicles, from a converted bread truck to the current fleet of three mobile libraries.
In 2001, the library entered into a unique agreement with the Board of Education and Parks Department to create the Mr. & Mrs. F. L. Schlagle Library and Environmental Learning Center at Wyandotte County Lake. This facility offers visitors library materials on science and nature and houses a small menagerie of local animals. It offers programming for youth throughout the area, at the library facility, as well as area schools and organizations. This facility is one of only two such library environmental learning centers in the United States.
In collaboration with the Turner Recreation Commission, the Kansas City, KS School District 500, and the Wyandotte County Library Board, the library's newest branch, was opened in the Turner Recreation Center in 2008. It provides full library services to patrons in the southwest part of our community.