Pete Browne’s roots in Kansas City run deep. Raised in Midtown, he still lives there with his wife Julie and their three children. The heavy construction firm he co-founded, Kissick Construction, is now a 28-year fixture that he serves as president. 

He considers himself a product of the Kansas City Public Library, he says, having logged countless hours at the Westport and Plaza branches and the downtown Central Library. 

Now, he helps lead the Library. Browne, who has served on its board of trustees since 2020, was elected Tuesday, January 18, 2022, as its president, succeeding Jonathan Kemper. It’s a noteworthy transition. Kemper had headed the board since 2005. 

Kemper remains one of the board’s nine members. Filling out its leadership, Claudia Oñate Greim and Laura Dominik were reelected as vice president and secretary-treasurer, respectively.  

Browne says he hopes to build on the foundation laid for the Library by past officers, including Jonathan Kemper and former Library Director Crosby Kemper III. “My role is to be a cheerleader for the organization,” he says, “and really be an advocate in the community for why the Kansas City Public Library is needed, valued, and should continue to thrive. 

“I believe in Kansas City,” he says. “I love to be a builder in Kansas City and then, in turn, build communities.” 

Browne has served as chair of the board’s building oversight committee and contributed to a number of important Library initiatives. He was a member of the independent, volunteer committee that worked successfully in 2018 for passage of a modest increase in the Library’s operating levy. He and his wife have co-chaired the Library’s Writers for Readers fundraising event, a partnership with the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Program in Creative Writing, the past two years. It supports Library writing classes and the annual Maya Angelou Book Award. 

Browne sits on several other boards in the city, including those of the Folly Theater, Notre Dame de Sion Schools, and the Kansas City Industrial Council.  

He now becomes the first new Library board president since Kay Barnes was Kansas City’s mayor, Dick Vermeil was coaching the Chiefs, and the Central Library still was settling into its new home in the former First National Bank building. 

“It definitely is unusual for a board president to have a long tenure. And it’s healthy, I think, to bring on new leadership and have a deep bench beyond it,” Jonathan Kemper says. “... With (Executive Director) John Herron’s leadership and the good work of his predecessor, Crosby, the Library is poised for continued great performance and community service.”  

Kemper’s own ties to the Library are longstanding and strong. The former Commerce Bancshares Inc. vice chairman joined KCPL’s board of trustees in 2001 and was instrumental in the relocation of the Central Library to the historic former headquarters of the First National Bank in 2004. He also conceived the idea of the Community Bookshelf, the Library’s landmark, four-story garage with 22 towering book spines bearing 42 classic titles.   

In addition to the Central Library, Kemper’s tenure on the board has seen the opening of new facilities for the Library’s Irene H. Ruiz and Plaza branches and the significant renovation of other locations – most recently the North-East Branch. He and his family's William T. Kemper Foundation also played a major role in the development and opening of the Central Library's OneNorth learning and technology hub in 2016. 

Kemper has continuously championed the Library as a civic and cultural centerpiece, joining the board of trustees in support of its emphasis on nationally renowned public programming and contributing heavily to its embrace of art – more than 200 items on display at the Central Library and more than 700 artworks, artifacts, and objects of ephemera in its overall collection.  

The Library has been the recipient of numerous local, regional, and national awards since 2001, most notably the National Medal for Museum and Library Service from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. “I can’t take credit for it,” Kemper says of the honors, “but I sure was glad to be part of a winning team.”  

The nine members of the Library board are appointed by the mayors of their respective districts – the cities of Kansas City (seven members), Independence (one), and Sugar Creek (one). Board members serve four-year terms.