The History of our Public Schools
Wyandotte County, Kansas

 

 

Site Navigation: History Homepage / Biographies Index / Building Index of Libraries and Schools / Ethnic History of Schools / FAQs - Did You Know? / First Things First / Historian's Roundtable of Wyandotte County / Maps and Land Records / One-Room Schoolhouses / Picture Gallery / Publications, Online Transcriptions, Links / Queries / Copyright/Disclaimer

Contact the History Webmaster - Patricia Adams

Kansas City, Kansas Public Library

Part III - Continud Growth

Location: 625 Minnesota Avenue

The following excerpts relative to the history of the Public Library in Kansas City, Kansas are taken from "The Kansas City, Kansas Public School System, 1819-1961" by Nellie McGuinn, 1961

1906:  The Medical Society obtained permission to meet in the southeast basement room of the library.  The Associated Clubs, in February, asked that gas be connected to the grate in the art room.  By June, 1906, the book section needed additional room and the Association was asked to give up its meeting room.  In September when these Associated Clubs protested against having to leave the Art Room, the board arranged for limited use of the room for them.

The board consented reluctantly to a request made in September by the Wyandotte Chautauqua Carnival to use the library grounds, and ordered that the grounds be restored when the carnival was over.  In addition to the paintings in the Art Room, the library had a statute of Paulina Bonaparte, donated by W. J. Buchan.

1907:  The use of the library grew.  In 1907 a patron offered a collection of library books.  More shelf room was needed and two hundred books were sent for rebinding.  A question arose as to the legality of the board's control of the library, and the counselor for the board was requested to render an opinion on it.  The librarians invited the State Library Association to meet here in 1908.

Because of a rule against admission charges for lecture room events, the board refused the use of the room to one organization that planned an entertainment in it.  Additional books, at a cost not to exceed one hundred dollars a month, were ordered bought.  The board granted Mr. Buchanan permission to take a picture of the statue he had given.  Mrs. Sara, Greenman, librarian, had four assistants.

1908  Chandeliers were purchased for the reference and the reading rooms in the library.  E. A. Clark received permission to collect specimens for a natural history exhibit, the board to provide a case and a license to hunt.  Builting Superintendent Biscomb moved the storeroom from the library to the shop before the beginning of the term in 1908.  F. S. Merstetter reported that the matter of supplying books purchased through the A. D. Burt bequest was completed.  The board expressed appreciation for his work.

The State Library Association held its eighth annual meeting at the Carnegie Library here on October 15-17.  The librarians asked for freedom of the offices on October 15 for a reception, and for the high school auditorium on October 16 for an evening program and lecture.  The board offered the library contingent for incidental expenses of entertaining and refreshments.

B. N. O. Walker in the Journal for February 17, 1908, stated that the treaty of January 31, 1855, contained proof of the cemetery ownership.  The title, he said, was invested in the government, but the land belonged to the Wyandots.  J. P. Angle of the Park Board asked the board in July to share the expense of improving Huron Place.  Grading was done in front of the library and a temporary walk built.

1909:  E. A. Clark in January, 1909, stuffed a deerskin for the museum at the library and was paid $50.  The board ordered a pedestal and railing for the reindeer.  A case for the deer and a smaller one for the birds were purchased in the summer.  Architect Rose drew plans for the case.  Clark agreed to work half time in the museum for $35 a month and was placed on the library payroll.  As a taxidermist, he was in need of supplies, which the board furnished.

The library corridors were decorated by Horton-Tibbs, after various sketches for designs were submitted to the Board in February.  The Women's Relief Corps gave a flag and flagpole for the library grounds.  The Council of Clubs (Federation) placed a piano in the lecture room in November.  The branch library at Armour's was granted permission to have its books furnished from the main library.

1910:  The library committee ordered a case for elk and reindeer in the museum, where E. A. Clark was employed full time during May to work on exhibits.  The State Board of Health held an exhibit at the library in March.  The Council of Clubs took up a collection for a memorial tablet for Sarah A. Richart, library benefactor.  A request came from the Park Board that light wires go underground at the library.

The library in 1910 had 16,167 books on its shelves.  Books were sent to Greystone, Quindaro, Park and Argentine Schools.  Miss Mary Daugherty of Longfellow School became widely known for her story hours for children and adults.  She worked during the summer in many western Chautauquas, using her story-telling ability for entertainment.

1913:  On February 15 each school child was allowed to contribute one cent to a fund for erecting a tablet in the library in memory of Mrs. Sarah A. Richart.  Mrs. E. A. Holmes was appointed to conduct the library story hour.  The West office of the Bell Telephone Company asked for library books for its restrooms, and in November one hundred books were sent, with the condition that they not go outside the building.  Armour's checked out 174 books for their rooms.  [Annotation:  Is it possible that "restrooms" in 1913 were more like a resting area or lounge area for employees, rather than what think of "restrooms" as being in 2004?]  Armour's checked out 174 books for their rooms. 

1921:  The tablet purchased by club women and school children to honor Mrs. Sarah Richart was placed on the library wall.  It bore the inscription:

In Memory of
Sarah Ann Richart
May 8, 1833
January 13, 1901
She Devoted to this Library the Latter Years of Her life
Bequeathing to It Her Entire Estate.
This tablet is placed by the Club Women and the
Children of the Public Schools of this City.

Library 17 Years Old (Kansan article)

The library served groups in all parts of the city.  Argentine and Ingalls in Armourdale had branches.  Reading rooms were furnished books at Peet Brothers, Proctor and Gamble, Armour's and Bethel Center.  When space at the main library was needed, Mrs. Greenman designed a mezzanine between the first and second floors for use as a cataloguing room.

1923:  The library extended services to the northwest part of the city when a branch library was established at the London Heights Methodist Church. Surplus copies of old board reports stored in the basement of the library building were sold.

1929:  Teachers desired a reference library. The small north room on the first floor of the library was obtained and $518 collected by a committee headed by Miss Lucy McCoy and Mrs. Bertha McMann, librarian. Art Director, Ethel Luce, designed a book plate to be placed in books donated by individuals and those purchased by the committee.

The library had to have shelves built in the reading room to take care of additional books. The 25th anniversary of its opening was celebrated on March 4, 1929, with an Open House and program. W. E. Barnhart, president of the board in 1904, told of the struggle to obtain a free library which was the only one in Kansas under the management of a board of education.

1932:  Fourteen years after the close of World War I and during the depression that followed the crash of the stock market in 1927, the western world was shocked at the Japanese shelling of Chinese fortresses. Taxpayers, hit by loss of jobs and business, were unable to meet assessments. Chicago and other large cities found themselves in financial difficulties and had to curtail services. Prohibition celebrated its 12 birthday while "speakeasies" carried on a thriving business in illicit sales of liquor.

Building was at a standstill. The board of education had issued no bonds for eight years. Lack of money caused the board to warn teachers of impending salary reductions. In Chicago, school board employees had received only six week's pay since April 15 of the preceding year, and Kansas City teachers considered themselves fortunate to have a regular salary paid them. Mrs. Bertha McMann, librarian, had the only cheerful news to report at the beginning of 1932. The library had experienced its greatest year in 1931. People out of work, she said, read more than when they were busy.

1948:  Early in the year, in February, notice came from California of the death of a former well-known resident.  Mrs. Sarah Judd Greenman, librarian in 1902 in the building on the southwest corner of 5th and Minnesota and for 20 years in the new building, died at the home of a daughter.  When she moved to the library in 1904, she brought 5000 books.  In 1924 when Mrs. Bertha McCann took her place, there were 55,000 books on the shelves.

1954:  The library, pride of the city in 1904, celebrated its 50 th anniversary November 15-20. Miss Esther Norman, librarian, and the library staff prepared the week's program.

1961:  Library plans called for a new building to be erected in front of the old, partly on the "Grecian Urn" tract and partly on the park land fifty feet back from Minnesota Avenue.  A test suit was brought before the Kansas Supreme Court to determine the legality of the move.  Board members, visited Flint and Kalamazoo, Michigan; South Bend, Indiana; Topeka, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri libraries.  Lewis Brotherson, business manager, attended a library conference at Kent State University in Ohio.

1962:  Completion of the new Public Library and School Administration Building together with the razing of the old (1902) Carnegie Library building marked the climax of a long and difficult planning and construction process. The building had been included as part of the 1958 bond proposal, but serious planning did not begin until the new Superintendent was employed in 1962 and a new head librarian in 1963. Superintendent O. L. Plucker, Business Manager Lewis H. Brotherson, and Librarian Willard Dennis, abandoned most of the preliminary plans and moved to employ Mr. Robert Rohlf, Director of the Hennepin County, Minnesota library system, as a consultant, with Joseph Radotinsky as architect. Construction of the building was completed in January, 1965.

With the completion of the Library, funds from the 1958 bond issue and funds accumulated in the Special Capital Outlay Fund from current tax levies were largely depleted, and except for projects which could be funded from current revenues or sale of property, new construction came to a temporary standstill.

The 1962-1986 era of construction and modernization of school district facilities began with the planning of the new public library and administration building at 625 Minnesota and ended with the completion of two new libraries in 1986; the Sumner Academy library and the West Wyandotte Branch Library on 82nd Street between State Avenue and Parallel.

The public library needs of the growing western parts of the district were considered as being more than the storefront branch located in shopping center at 78th and State Avenue could serve. After searching for a suitable location, it was proposed by the Superintendent that a new branch library building should be constructed on the front portion of the Arrowhead Junior High (middle school) site on 82nd Street. It was further urged that the new building should not be an administrative center but rather a facility to meet a vast array of needs of that area. The building was planned as an outstanding example of what a community library could be. Included in it were not only standard library features, but a unique public meeting and conference rooms, children's libraries, a fine arts division and provision for electronic media.

The completion and opening of the library in 1986 served as a final "capstone" of a building program planned and extended over almost a quarter of a century. The initiation of planning for the first library project in 1962 and completion of the Sumner and West Wyandotte Branch projects in 1986 represent the beginning and the ending of the physical plant construction interest of O. L. Plucker who served as Superintendent of Schools during those years.

2004 - Phase IV of the KCKs Public Schools $120 million bond issue includes:  Banneker, Cemtral, McKinley and Quindaro Elementary Schools, Harmon High School and the Area Technical School (ATS).  Central and McKinley will reopen to student enrollment in the Fall of 2004.  The other buildings, which previously had air conditioning, will receive upgrades to their heating and cooling systems, as well as minimal energy updates on windows and exteriors.  The last buildings to receive upgrades include the Main Branch Library, Central Office and the Shop.

For continued information on the KCKs Public Library, please click on one of the links below.

Part I
(The Beginning)

Part II
(Central School makes way for the Carnegie Library)

Part III
(Continued Growth)

Kansas City, Kansas Public Library - Main Branch

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

Kansas City, Kansas Public Library - West Wyandotte Branch

Links using reader are marked ( pdf ).
Click icon to download reader.
Use browser's back button to return

Contact the History Webmaster - Patricia Adams

History Site created on December 02, 2002
Page last updated: 02-Jan-2012