All Library locations will be closing early at 5 p.m. Tuesday, December 31 and remain closed Wednesday, January 1, for New Year's.
Celebrating 150 Years of Discovery
Join us for a yearlong celebration of the Kansas City Public Library’s 150th anniversary!
While our resources and services have evolved over 150 years, our commitment remains the same. To inform and inspire. To enrich and empower. Throughout 2024 we will be reflecting on our past, observing our present, and looking to the next century and a half of continued service to the people of Kansas City.
Our yearlong celebration will include notable author talks and events, celebrations at every location in our library system, and activities that highlight our history and look with hope to the future.
Watch our anniversary keynote with Tommi Laitio, Public Innovation Fellow with Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins, and read All Are Welcome Here: An Abecedarian for the Kansas City Public Library’s 150th Anniversary by Glenn North, Poet Laureate for Kansas City's 18th & Vine Historic District.
On Demand Signature Events
Tommi Laitio
Cultivating Good Community Vib...
Tuesday, December 5, 2023
7:00pm
**Join us starting at 6 p.m. for a reception hour with food by Dutzel's Catering, music by The Phantastics, and two special drinks.
The Kansas City Public Library l...
Jason Roe
Carrie Westlake Whitney: Remem...
Thursday, March 14, 2024
6:00pm
Carrie Westlake Whitney was a remarkable exception to the patriarchal times in which she lived, a 27-year-old woman who became the first full-time director of the Ka...
Jason Roe
Kansas City's Public Library: ...
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
6:00pm
The Library started with a single bookcase in 1873. Since then, it’s grown into a cultural institution that bolsters people’s welfare, inspires lifelong learning, an...
Exhibitions
October 5, 2024
- January 5, 2025
The Library celebrates the wide-ranging talents of its staff in this 150th anniversary capstone – a multimedia exhibition of staff artwork and an exch...
150th News
Friday, December 6, 2024
The 2024 annual impact report shows growth and unwavering community engagement.
Monday, October 7, 2024
Complimentary copies of Kansas City's Public Library: Empowering the Community for 150 Years available on Oct. 8 and 12.
Sponsors
The Kansas City Public Library would like to thank all of our 150th Anniversary Sponsors.
- Edward F. Swinney Trust
- Pete Browne and Julie Walker Browne
- Kissick Construction Company
- Courtney S. Turner Charitable Trust
- The Kansas City Royals Foundation
- 15 & the Mahomies
- JE Dunn
- Spencer Fane LLP
- KC Streetcar Authority
- Kansas City Magazine
Community Partners
Thanks to the following partners for helping us celebrate the role of the Library in the community throughout our 150th anniversary celebration!
- Cafe Cà Phê
- Charlie Hustle
- J. Rieger & Co.
- Made in KC
- Vine Street Brewing