Central Library

Central Library

14 West 10th Street
Kansas City, MO 64105
PHONE: 816.701.3400
FAX: 816.701.3401

Branch Manager: Lillie Brack
lilliebrack@kclibrary.org
Office: 816.701.3543

The Central Library serves as the major resource library for the system. It houses the major library departments, including: Document Delivery, Central Reference, Special Collections, Customer Service, Collection Maintenance, Library Outreach, Youth Services, and all of the Administrative departments.

Nine Muses Café Menu (PDF)

Parking at the Central Library

The Central Library parking garage is located directly west of the Central Library building on the northwest corner of 10th & Baltimore. It is open 7 days a week. Parking on the weekends is free with a coupon available from library staff. The cost to park Monday through Friday in the Library parking garage is free for the first hour with validation from library staff. Cost is $1 every 20 minutes (or portion thereof) after the first validated hour. Parking after 5:00 p.m. on weekdays in the garage is $2. 

Central Library Departments:

• Audio Visual: 816-701-3455
• Central Reference: 816.701.3433
• Customer Services: 816.701.3442
• Document Delivery and ILL: 816.701.3463
• H&R Block Business & Career Center: 816.701.3717
• Library Jobline: 816.701.3421
• Nine Muses Café: 816.701.3451
• Outreach Books To Go Preschool Service: 816.701.3580
• Outreach Senior and Home Bound Book Services: 816.701.3490
• Outreach General Services: 816.701.3580 or 816.701.3667
• Public Affairs: 816.701.3402
• Special Collections, Local History & Genealogy: 816.701.3427
• Technical Services 816.701.3463
• Youth Services (system-wide): 816.701.3441

TDD (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf): 816-701-3403

Additional Youth Services
Story times: Daycare and Preschool groups, please call 816-701-3441 and set your time for an exciting story time just for you.

Tours of the Central Library: School, Homeschool and other Youth Groups are invited to schedule a personal guided tour of the Central Library. For assistance, please call 816-701-3441.

Central Library Architecture and Rooms

Historic Lobby
The restored 1906 historic bank lobby is one of the most magnificent spaces in the Central Library as it is the first interior view that customers experience as they enter the Library. This impressive space houses the popular materials collection on the first floor among the restored columns.

These spaces may be rented for meetings, weddings, and other events. Photos of the rooms are available in the Library collection on Flickr.

Grand Reading Room
Modeled after library reading rooms of the early 20th century, this room includes traditional library seating with custom-designed tables wired for modern computer usage. The Grand Reading Room is prominently placed on the third floor and is surrounded by the Reference Collection, Periodicals Collection and a portion of the Non-Fiction Collection. Architectural features include a distinctive, 34-foot ceiling with skylight.

Missouri Valley Room and Special Collections Archive
The Missouri Valley Room, located on the fifth floor, provides historians and genealogists with a unique setting in which to conduct research. The archive space houses the library's special historical collections including the Missouri Valley Collection (local history), Ramos Collection (African American history) and Western expansion materials.

http://www.kchistory.org

Stanley H. Durwood Film Vault
The old bank Vault, part of the 1925 bank addition, proves one of the most distinctive and unique features in the building with walls of steel and reinforced concrete and a 35-ton steel door. The Vault is one of the best used and loved areas in the building, seating approximately 30 people. A variety of programming specific to the Vault Theater including lunchtime presentations of shorts and documentaries as well as film series are presented in partnership with local film societies and organizations. This venue provides a truly unique cinematic experience for Library customers and private parties.

Helzberg Auditorium
The Helzberg Auditorium "a multipurpose space" combines state-of-the-art technology with the warmth of a community-gathering place. Accordingly, Helzberg Auditorium is a fine venue for a wide variety of educational experiences and is designed and equipped for enhanced use for multimedia lectures, distance learning, and teleconferencing as well as music recitals, small concerts, and community meetings. The room seats up to 165 people is located on the fifth floor.

Children's Library
This themed space on the second floor welcomes children and encourages them to browse the collection, read aloud in small groups or to themselves and look at picture books. This space and the books housed within in it provides more than just opportunities for "story times," it provides a unique setting in which children can take their own journey into the exciting and life-enriching world of books.

Rooftop Terrace
The Rooftop Terrace is a large outdoor terrace adjacent to the fifth floor Helzberg Auditorium and will be used for special events and conference center related activities.

Turner Boardroom & the President's Office
The original bank Turner Boardroom, located on the second floor, accommodates small groups in a gracious and comfortable conference-style setting. Restored to its original beauty, this space serves as a staff meeting area and small conference room.

In 1904, the President's Office was being built to serve as the office of Mr. Edward F. Swinney and, 100 years later, serves as a conference room on the first floor. Located in the southwest corner of the grand lobby, this space is certainly one of the most memorable and elegant in the building containing all of the original finishes including Camodillo Mahoghany woodwork from Peru and a fireplace of Connemara marble.

The Library Café: Nine Muses
Nine Muses Café Menu (PDF)
The Café, located on the first floor, provides a warm and comfortable place for friends to meet or for customers to peruse their selections.

Parking garage
Photo by Mike Sinclair

Central Library Parking Garage Community Bookshelf
The Community Bookshelf is a striking feature of Kansas City's downtown. It runs along the south wall of the Central Library's parking garage on 10th Street between Wyandotte Street and Baltimore Avenue. The book spines, which measure approximately 25 feet by 9 feet, are made of signboard mylar. The shelf showcases 22 titles reflecting a wide variety of reading interests as suggested by Kansas City readers and then selected by The Kansas City Public Library Board of Trustees.