Mid-Continent Public Library

Mid-Continent Public Library
File:Mid-Continent Public Library logo.jpg
Location	Clay, Platte, & Jackson Counties, Missouri
Established	1965 (1892)
Branches	30
Collection
Size	3,574,013 (2007)
Access and use
Circulation	8,860,919 (2007)
Population served	668,428
Other information
Budget	$42,097,000 (2007)
Director	Richard J. Wilding
Website	http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/ Midwest Genealogy Center: http://www.MidwestGenealogyCenter.org/

Mid-Continent Public Library is a consolidated public library system serving Clay, Platte, and Jackson Counties in Missouri, with headquarters in Independence, Missouri. (Note: Kansas City Public Library is a separate system with facilities primarily serving Kansas City in Jackson County, Missouri.)

In 2007, Mid-Continent Library was the largest public library system in the state of Missouri by number of volumes. Its collection ranked among the 75 largest libraries in America, which includes university, public, and private collections.

Background

Mid-Continent Public Library (formally known as: Consolidated Library System No. 3) was founded in 1965. However, its roots go back to the Independence Public Library, formed by the Independence Library Association in 1892 and the creation of the Citizens Improvement Association Library (later the Carnegie Library) in Excelsior Springs in the 1890s. It currently has 30 branches in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area of Missouri located in Kansas City, Independence, Liberty, Gladstone, Lee’s Summit, Blue Springs, and other cities.

The library system is overseen by a Library Board of 12 members comprised of four members appointed by County Commissioners in each of the service region’s three counties: Clay, Platte, and Jackson Counties, Missouri.

In fiscal 2007, the collection held 3,574,013 items. Total annual circulation was 8,860,919 items, and it filled 1,571,362 intra- and interlibrary loans. Branch libraries served 4,159,170 visitors and total attendance at programming events, including those for adults, families, and children, was 252,164 patrons. The system has 424,132 registered borrowers.

Annual circulation for the year exceeded one-half million items for each of the Mid-Continent Library’s four busiest branches: Liberty, Lee’s Summit (Colburn Road), Independence (North), and Blue Springs (South).

In 2005, the system had one of the nation’s largest Summer Reading Programs, which, in the following year, grew by 29%. It is known for its array of services, including downloadable and on-demand videos (from MyLibrary DV), more than 200 online learning tools and research databases with remote access, downloadable audiobooks, and Library-by-Mail for homebound patrons. Library branches offer self-checkout machines and self-service hold pick-ups, and in 2008, every on-site public access computer will have improved LCD flat-panel monitors. The library system collaborates and partners with local foundations.

Midwest Genealogy Center

Midwest Genealogy Center, Independence, Missouri

On 21 June 2008, Mid-Continent Public Library inaugurated the Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence, Missouri; the largest stand-alone public genealogy research facility in America.

The 52,000-square-foot (4,800 m²) building houses a unique collection of records in almost completely open stacks. It holds 80,000 family history books, 100,000 local history items, 565,000 rolls of microfilm, and 7,000 maps. It also contains all available U.S. federal population census records and federal indexes, Civil War histories, immigration and naturalization records, Native American records, biographical archives, manuscripts pertaining to the American slave trade and the Antebellum South, and a large variety of state records for Missouri and other states such as state censuses, tax records, penitentiary records, military service records, compiled records of Missouri Union and Confederate Army soldiers, local newspapers, local newspaper indexes to obituaries and weddings, genealogical periodicals, and 60,000 titles of family genealogies. The center also has 10,000 volumes available for circulation in the “Genealogy from the Heartland Collection” created from donations by the American Family Records Association (AFRA), Missouri State Genealogical Association (MoSGA), Heart of America Genealogical Society (HAGS), Gann Family Association, and patron contributions.

The center’s equipment includes microfilm readers-printers, self-digitization stations, and free access to important research databases. It offers many advanced services, including free wireless Internet access and digital video conferencing capabilities for viewing national broadcasts relevant to genealogists and family historians.

Branches

Midwest Genealogy Center, main floor atrium

• Antioch (Gladstone)
• Blue Ridge (Kansas City)
• Blue Springs North (Blue Springs)
• Blue Springs South (Blue Springs)
• Boardwalk (Kansas City)
• Buckner
• Camden Point
• Claycomo
• Colburn Road (Lee’s Summit)
• Dearborn
• Edgerton
• Excelsior Springs
• Grain Valley
• Grandview
• Kearney
• Lee’s Summit, Oldham Parkway
• Liberty
• Lone Jack
• Midwest Genealogy Center (Independence)
• North Independence (Independence)
• North Oak (Kansas City)
• Oak Grove
• Parkville
• Platte City
• Raytown
• Red Bridge (Kansas City)
• Riverside
• Smithville
• South Independence (Independence)
• Weston

External links

• MCPL Official site
• MCPL Library catalog