Central Library, Kansas City Public Library (Tour) - Clio

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Fifth Floor

Gladys Feld Helzberg Auditorium

Named in honor of Kansas City philanthropist Gladys Feld Helzberg, this auditorium offers seating for 165 library patrons and feature unique doors that are nearly ten feet tall and made of African mahogany. Gladys Feld Helzberg was a writer for Kansas City’s Box Office Magazine after graduation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in journalism in 1927. She and her husband, Barnett C. Helzberg Sr., of Helzberg Diamonds, had three children and were known for their love of books.

Rooftop Terrace

This outdoor terrace was created when the former roof was removed. Below the cement pavers are pipes that provide water to the drought-resistant plant species. Highlights of the terrace include a giant chess set in the southwest corner, a large forty-foot wall used to show movies on summer nights, and a skyline view that offers a chance to see much of the historic Library District.

Missouri Valley Special Collections and Missouri Valley Room

Located on the fifth floor of the Central Library, the Missouri Valley Special Collections serves as the history arm and archives of the Kansas City Public Library. The department’s mission is to acquire and preserve materials documenting the history of Kansas City and the surrounding region and make them accessible to researchers and others in the general public. Thousands of books, manuscripts, photographs, maps, postcards, and other records comprise the Special Collections. Core collections focus on topics such as Kansas City’s built environment and social history, African American history and culture, Native Americans and the American West, and the Civil War on the western Missouri border. These materials are accessible to researchers in the Missouri Valley Room, which features an extensive local history browsing collection, a hand-drawn 1855 map of Westport, Missouri, and other displayed art and artifacts.

Third Floor

Bullet Hole in the 3rd Floor South Window

This bullet hole can be found in the south windows on the third floor. While its exact origins remain a mystery, it likely dates to the 1920s or 1930s, also known as The Pendergast Era. It may have been the result of a shootout gone awry during a bank robbery across the street from the Central Library, then the First National Bank.

Room 310 Conference Room

This conference room features the original painting Town of Kansas which was completed by Anthony Benton Gude in 2004 in the style of his grandfather, legendary artist Thomas Hart Benton. The Library commissioned the painting by Anthony Gude who has a studio on a farm his grandfather bought near Frankfort, Kansas, a small town is northwest of Kansas City

Effie Mae Winders Kauffman Grand Reading Room

Based on 20th-century reading rooms, the room has a 34-foot-high glass skylight ceiling, mahogany paneling, and custom reading lamps. To construct the Reading Room, a hole was cut from the fourth level slab, and steel girders running east to west were removed. The girders were each 30 inches tall and 30 feet long and weighed 18,000 pounds. They were cut into thirds for easier removal by cranes.

Second Floor

Frances Families Children’s Library and Aquila Young Adult Library

This section offers multiple areas for children and children's activities. In the children's section, librarians lead story times for all ages, curate age-appropriate reading lists, and more. In the teen room, the library provides resources for homework help and hosts crafting and game nights.The second floor includes a mural by local artist Lisa Campbell Ernst. The second floor is also home to the Digital Media Lab, a 3D printer, and the teen digital initiative.

Greenwood Memorial Chair

In 1874, James M. Greenwood (1837-1914) was appointed Superintendent of Schools and supervisor of the library. The chair weighs 2,100 pounds and is sculpted from a solid block of marble; it was so heavy it was hard to find a place to put it in the library. The empty chair is a “classical memorial motif,” along the lines of the riderless horse.

Courtney S. Turner Board Room

This was the bank's original boardroom which also included a spiral staircase. The room is named for investment banker Courtney S. Turner (1896-1986), an Atchison-born businessman who was president of the board of the Charter Bank and the “largest shareholder of the bank following the enactment of the Bank Merger Law in 1969.”[1] He was a “golf-course developer in Palm Desert” and made his fortune in credit finance and was “known for his eccentricities.”[2] He was also a “director and substantial stockholder of the First National Bank.”[3]

Vault Level

Orval Hixon Photography Gallery

In addition to the theater, the Vault Level also houses the Orval Hixon Gallery, named for the prominent studio photographer of the early 20th century. From 1915 to 1930, Hixon photographed hundreds of rising stars of vaudeville, stage, and early film, including Eddie Cantor, Joan Crawford, and Al Jolson.

Stanley H. Durwood Film Vault

An iconic feature of the Central Library is the Stanley H. Durwood Film Vault. Located on the lower level of the Central Library, with walls of steel and reinforced concrete, it was a bank vault for more than 70 years before being redesigned as a mid-20th century movie theater. The massive vault door has been refurbished and remains permanently open. Another attraction is the Orval Hixon Gallery of portraits. Hixon was based in Kansas City and photographed hundreds of theater and vaudeville performers of the early 20th century. In keeping with the focus on film and media, the Vault Level also houses the Central Library’s audio-visual collection.

First Floor

First National Bank Architectural Details and Exhibit (2004-2022)

This exhibit on the history of First National Bank was located on the north end of Kirk Hall, across from the book return area from 2004 until 2022. The exhibit included early photos of the building and biographies of bank leaders, including the first president, Col. James L. Abernathy. Given the exhibit's value and the interest of local residents in learning more about the early history of this building, it has been added as a contributing entry within this virtual tour of the library.

Library Café (Closed Until Further Notice)

This small cafe is currently closed. The cafe was known as the Nine Muses Cafe until its closure during the global pandemic of 2020-2021 and included an original painting of the ancient Greek muses commissioned by the library. Here, visitors to the library can also view one of several unique clocks that are located on nearly every floor of the library. The Power and Light Building Replica Clock is believed to have been created in the 1950s, and was donated to the library by the former owners of the Power and Light Building in 2014.

Chairman’s Office

The bank Chairman’s Office in the southwest corner of Kirk Hall features Peruvian mahogany walls and a marble fireplace. A reproduction of a self-portrait by Missouri artist George Caleb Bingham hangs over the fireplace (the Library-owned original is on display at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art). Another Bingham work, General Order No. 11, is displayed behind the circulation desk. The chairman’s office has mahogany from Peru and a Connemara marble fireplace and detailed gold leaf on the coffered ceiling.

The Central Library has been located in the historic former First National Bank building since 2004. Both public and private funding were used to convert the old bank building into a library. The exterior architecture is original, and elements of the interior bank lobby, named Kirk Hall in honor of businessman and library advocate Phil Kirk, were restored to their original grandeur. Visitors to the Central Library will find many interesting spaces including a lower-level bank vault converted into a 28-seat movie theater, the third-floor Grand Reading Room with skylights, the fifth-floor Rooftop Terrace, and two formal art galleries. The bronze entryway doors, each weighing one ton, lead into the magnificently restored bank lobby. Named Kirk Hall in honor of downtown developer, Library advocate, and former DST chairman Phil Kirk, the lobby area houses new and popular collections of books and other materials, as well as the Library Café and circulation desk.

Exterior and Parking Garage

From First National Bank to the Central Library, 1906 to 2004

Located on the northeast corner of 10th Street and Baltimore Avenue in the historic former First National Bank building, the Central Library serves as the main resource center for the Kansas City Public Library system. The Library has been at its current location since 2004 and anchors the downtown Library District. Both public and private funding were used to convert the old bank building into a library. The exterior architecture is original, and elements of the interior bank lobby, named Kirk Hall in honor of businessman and Library advocate Phil Kirk, were restored to their original grandeur. Visitors to the Central Library will find many interesting spaces including a lower-level bank vault converted into a 28-seat movie theater, the third-floor Grand Reading Room with skylights, the fifth-floor Rooftop Terrace, and two formal art galleries.

Community Bookshelf/Parking Garage

The Community Bookshelf installation spanning the south façade of the Central Library parking garage has become a frequently photographed downtown landmark. Standing 2½ stories high, it depicts 22 towering book spines that bear the names of 42 classic titles suggested by the public. Another art installation on the east side of the garage, The Kansas City Connection by local artist Bob Price Holloway, features notable figures in the city’s history. In the early 20th century, the garage location on West Ninth Street was home to the Sam S. Shubert Theater, which operated from 1906-1935. It was razed in 1936 to make way for a parking structure.

This Tour is a Multi-zone Tour.

Central Library, Kansas City Public Library

Created by Kansas City Public Library on December 21st 2014, 3:00:27 am.

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Description

Located in the historic former headquarters of First National Bank, the Central Library serves as the major resource library for the Kansas City Public Library system. Offering breathtaking galleries and reading rooms, and an ingenious parking garage that looks like a bookshelf, the Central Library is consistently included in lists of the most beautiful public libraries in the United States. The former bank vault is now home to the Stanley H. Durwood film collection, while the old bank's 35-foot ceilings add grandeur to the main reading room. Located on the fifth floor of the Central Library, the Missouri Valley Room is the premiere collection of rare books and one-of-a-kind historical records related to the history of Kansas City. Patrons may use the reading room to view archival and genealogical materials that do not circulate beyond the library.

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