The History of our Public Schools
Wyandotte County, Kansas

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Kansas City, Kansas Public Library

West Wyandotte Branch

Location: 1737 N. 82nd Street

Branch Manager:  Pat Gaunce (2004)

SUMMARY

1986 - June 1:  New public library to serve western part of the district.

Short History (by Pat Gaunce):  In 1963 the first library in western Wyandotte County started with a donation of $20,000.00 from the Junior League.  The library was housed at the old Hornif School site (2,500 square feet of space) at 98th and State Avenue.  The library remained at this location until it was transferred to Wyandotte Plaza Shopping Center in 1971.  This branch soon became the busiest unit in the KCKPL system, expanding into adjacent storefronts in 1975 and 1978.  Statistics continued to climb at the Wyandotte Plaza location warranting the expansion of the library.  Planning for a new facility began in 1982 and West Wyandotte was dedicated to the public on June 1, 1986 after nearly twenty months of construction.   

West Wyandotte offers the community a 168-seat multi-purpose auditorium and two conference rooms.  The library has been featured in Library Journal as an outstanding example of pleasing and functional library design.  The soft colors and open spaces of the interior give the building a modern look.  The exterior is all brick masonry with horizontal bands and details in rounded brick.  The roofing is a copper color metal.  The masonry is endicott ironspot brick with a high iron content that refracts light and changes from its basic red color to burnt orange to copper according to weather, time of day, and season of the year.

Kansas City, Kansas Public Library - Main Branch

Kansas City, Kansas Public Library - Argentine Branch (Carnegie Library)

Kansas City, Kansas Public Library - West Wyandotte Branch

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Contact the History Webmaster - Patricia Adams

History Site created on December 02, 2002
Page last updated: 05-Jan-2009