All Library locations will be closed Monday, September 7 for Labor Day.
Local History
Friday, July 18, 2025
Throughout July, sparked by Independence Day celebrations, the Library considers what it means to have creative freedom.
Friday, June 20, 2025
At 6 p.m. on June 25 at the Plaza Branch, Katherine Rose-Mockry talks about "Liberating Lawrence: Gay Activism in the 1970s at the University of Kansas.”
Monday, January 30, 2023
With Kansas City International Airport's new single terminal now scheduled to open on February 28, 2023, the Library's Missouri Valley Special Collections gives you a window seat to the city's aviation past with a collection of images and historical background.
Friday, October 7, 2022
In celebration of KC Oktoberfest, the Library's Missouri Valley Special Collections highlights the city’s German American and beer brewing history. Learn about two prominent families who made names for themselves in the brewing industry -- the Muehlebachs and the Heims -- and about how...
Friday, August 5, 2022
What’s Your KCQ?, on which the Kansas City Public Library and The Kansas City Star collaborate to answer reader-submitted questions about local history, quirks, and curiosities, tackles a trio of recent inquiries:
A body in the old Waldo water tower?
T...
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
The Library and two institutional partners – the Local Investment Commission (LINC) and the Black Archives of Mid-America – are being honored with the nation’s top award for the preservation of state and local history. They’ll receive the American Association for State and Local History’s...