Library Life
After about a month of being closed for renovations, the Library’s Southeast Branch will reopen to the public on Tuesday, September 5.
Kansas City Councilman Quinton Lucas offered a moving tribute to libraries in general, and the Kansas City Public Library in particular, at a recent event at which the city and the Library were presented a 2017 LibraryAware Community Award.
The Kansas City Public Library offers dozens of digital resources that provide endless educational and entertainment opportunities for everyone with a library card. There are several changes and new developments coming soon; learn more about what you have to look foward to!
The Ruiz Seed Library began in 2014 and offers free fruit, vegetable, herb, and flower seeds to all library patrons. Additionally, the Seed Library houses a special collection of gardening books, which are available for checkout, subscribes to several gardening magazines, has created gardening-related programs for children, and offers free monthly gardening workshops to gardeners of all skill levels.
Diane Swanson gave 44 years of service to the Kansas City Public Library, including a decade and a half as director of its bustling Plaza Branch. Even after her death, the quiet, keenly intellectual librarian has continued to give – a $1 million bequest that is the largest one-time gift from an individual in the Library’s history.
It forms the new Swanson Strategic Endowment Fund, authorized by the Library’s board of trustees this week. Set up through the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, it will be used to “highlight the riches of our collections and spread the word in the community about the great services provided by the Library, the kinds of things that Diane Swanson did all of her career,” Library Director Crosby Kemper III says.
The gift “helps the Library to maintain and enhance those offerings,” Kemper says.
Swanson, the daughter of former Western Auto Supply Co. president and CEO Arthur Swanson, rose through the Library’s ranks over a career that spanned from 1958 to her retirement in 2002. Most of that time was spent in management positions at the Plaza Branch, which she oversaw as director from 1985 to 2000.
Born in the Chicago area, she graduated from Northwestern University and went on to earn a graduate degree in library science from the University of Denver.
A reproduction of Thomas Hart Benton’s 1947 mural “Achelous and Hercules” – true to the 22-foot-long, more than five-foot high dimensions of the original – now graces the first floor of the Central Library. On permanent display outside the Genevieve Guldner Gallery, it returns an image that famously adorned the old Harzfeld’s Department Store just a few blocks away.
April Roy, manager of our Bluford Branch, has been honored by the American Library Association with the I Love My Librarian Award.
The Library and American Public Square kick off a series of spring discussions of some of the city’s most polarizing issues—minus the invective that too often feeds polarity—in early December.
The Kansas City Public Library remains among a select group of public libraries across the country, earning a 4-star designation from Library Journal.
The Kansas City Public Library is one of 21 nationwide recipients to receive a $100,000 grant to help launch a two-year program aimed at improving financial literacy.
We have partnered with the Women's Employment Network and other local agencies to provide a range of services, including workshops, web resources, and individual financial coaching, to residents who are looking to enhance their money-managing skills but may lack access to reliable, unbiased education opportunities and resources. The Money Matters Workshop Series is projected intended to reach hundreds of residents in areas most in need served by our North-East, Bluford, and Southeast Branches.
Currently, workshops are being held at these three locations and we are looking to expand to local area community centers, social services agencies, and religious facilities. The Money Matters Workshops will cover banking, budgeting, credit management, and protection against identity theft.
The Women's Employment Network and other financial opportunity centers will also offer free individual financial coaching sessions to workshop participants. The Money Matters Workshop Series and coaching are open to anyone but specifically targeting: