All Library locations will be closed Thursday, June 19, for Juneteenth.
In 2020, the Kansas City Public Library established the Maya Angelou Book Award with the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri State University, and Northwest Missouri State, Truman State, and Southeast Missouri State universities.
Angelou was an acclaimed, Missouri-born memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist, and the prize celebrates contemporary writers whose work demonstrates a commitment to social justice. The award alternates annually between poetry and fiction.