Two Missouri Libraries: Kansas City Central Library and St. Joseph Public Library

Let us once again venture west, back to the visits we made in the fall. We’ve already told you about our visits to Iowa libraries, as well as Nebraska City. This post will recount our two visits to libraries in Missouri - the first to the Kansas City Public Library and then to the St. Joseph Public Library.

The Kansas City Public Library Central Library 

Parking lots can be beautiful!

The Central Library in Kansas City is amazing. So let’s get that point right out of the way. We spent a couple of hours working in and exploring the library and came away impressed.

We visited on a Sunday afternoon and were able to find nearby street parking. Streetcar and bus service is also available. There is also a fantastic parking lot. It’s not often you see those words together, but nor is it often you see GIANT BOOKS on the side of a parking lot either.

The building, which originally housed the First National Bank, was built back in 1904. In 2004, it became home to the Central Library. As you walk through the doors, there is a sense of grandeur. High ceilings, tall columns, marble, and dark wood - it conveys gravitas. Projecting this image helps libraries say, “we are solid and trustworthy; you can rely on us.” It’s an important thing to remind people.

One of the things we often find notable is how library signage addresses patrons. Sadly, many libraries lead with long lists of things one can’t do. We’ve seen lots of finger-wagging signs, which only increased with Covid. We’re happy to report that’s not the case at the Central Library. The sign that greeted us as we entered was clear, positive in tone, and welcoming. Wish there were more out there like this.

The ground floor of the library is primarily open public space. There are seating areas, a service desk, and a really nice gallery space. During our visit, the exhibit was “Pictures of Resistance: The Wartime Photography of Jewish Partisan Faye Schulman,” and it was powerful. Making this type of information available to a community is important, and Kansas City certainly knows how to do this well.

Faye Schulman

On the upper floors, there are a variety of meeting rooms and workspaces, as well as the bulk of the library’s collection. We were pleased to see that these spaces were open and available during our visit. In some cases, libraries have elected to keep them closed during the pandemic. Obviously, every library needs to do what’s appropriate for its community, but we sure appreciated the chance to sit down and get some work done during this visit!

Before doing that, though, it was time to dawdle around the library. Here are a few highlights: we chit-chatted with two friendly reference librarians, saw a well-maintained business center, checked out meeting rooms that were two kinds of fancy, spotted giant chess pieces and a great big chessboard, were mesmerized by a collection of mechanical banks, soaked in some sun in a lovely rooftop space, noticed really nice bathrooms, appreciated two cool clocks, and just generally enjoyed a library that was being heavily used on a Sunday afternoon. 

We were impressed by the contemporary feel of the space. It was amazing to learn that the library hadn’t seen a significant renovation since it opened in 2004. Not only does the overall design feel fresh, but everything we saw was in excellent condition—no small feat for a library that’s almost thirty years old.

While I worked, Adam met up with his friend Birdie Hansen, a craft candlemaker in Kansas City. Her work is really smelly (but in a good way!).

Adam and Birdie

As with all good things, our visit to the Central Library came to an end. We had plans to tailgate at the Chief’s game (we mostly hid our New England Patriots fandom) that afternoon and so we headed out. It was a great visit though and we were really impressed with all we saw.

The St. Joseph Public Library

The St. Joseph Public Library.

We are HUGE fans of St. Joseph. We first visited the city in 2017, long before Library Land. We were there for the total solar eclipse. Unfortunately, the eclipse was a dud due to cloud cover, but no bother! During that trip, we made some good friends and had a lot of fun. When we found out we’d been accepted to speak at the Iowa and Nebraska state library association conferences, we made plans to visit St. Joe. 

Before diving into our visit to the St. Joseph Public Library, indulge us a bit as we explain our love of this city. As mentioned, we were there back in ‘17 for the eclipse. On our first night in town, we found ourselves at Magoon’s Famous Delicatessen. Not to eat, mind you, but to play some music (Adam read about an open mic night, and I just happened to have a fiddle in my back pocket) and meet people. And meet people we did! 

With our pal, Drew, at Magoon’s.

One of them was Drew Ames, the co-owner of Coin In A Log Creative, a commercial film and video production company. Drew was kind enough to introduce us to others and share his love for his hometown. St. Joseph has a long and storied history in the American West. It was the starting point for the Pony Express, the jumping-off point for those departing on the Oregon Trail, and the place where Jesse James was killed. It was a cattle town and had a large stockyard and meatpacking industry.

On this recent visit, we caught up with Drew and swapped stories of our travels and exploits. For him, that meant shooting documentaries on the closing of the St. Joe stockyard, and for us it meant talking about libraries. We also met up with Drew - and his son (his first game) - for the tailgate mentioned above. It was great to see him and to reacquaint ourselves with St. Joe and to visit its main library for the first time.   

What a beautiful building! Occupying almost an entire city block, it is in the French Baroque style and was built in 1902 to house both the library and the Board of Education, which continues to be the case.

As we entered, we were immediately struck by the beautiful stained glass ceiling over our heads and the mosaic floor beneath our feet. These were just two examples of the fine design and craftsmanship throughout the library. 

No sooner had we noticed those things than our eyes were drawn to another striking feature: glass-floored stacks. As regular readers know, we are huge fans. Glass floors were used to increase lighting before the wide availability and adoption of electric lights. The glass used was thick enough to support the weight of users and books. We learned that the glass floors, which are on a mezzanine, had been restored - and expanded - during a renovation. One thing we were warned about was the amount of static electricity they generated and wow, it was no joke!

We spoke with the library staff, explored the various spaces, and heard about services and the community. It was all awesome. One of the outstanding aspects of the library is the art one sees all over - including a ton of sculpture. Many libraries have art collections but not all of them make those collections available to the public. To the ones that do like St. Joe, thank you. They provide such an interesting window into a community - past and present.

Much of that collection was gathered in a very open and comfortable local history/reading room. It was the place we’d have worked if we’d needed to sit down and work that day. (Not that we weren’t working, but we didn’t need to sit down to do it!). The room was slightly reconfigured for Covid, but it was still lovely and well used.

We also love seeing the ways the library cares about its community. For example, there was clear and friendly guidance on coronavirus (including free masks for those who needed one, offered with no judgment) and sanitary kits for all. Given the warm and welcoming feeling we’ve always gotten in St. Joe, these things came as no surprise!

St. Joseph is a great small city with a really wonderful library. It may be off your beaten path, but if the opportunity is there, we hope you’ll visit.