State Library of Kansas

State Library of Kansas
Agency overview
Formed 1855
Preceding Agency Kansas Territorial Library
Jurisdiction State of Kansas
Headquarters 300 SW 10th Avenue
Topeka, Kansas
39°02′53″N 95°40′41″W / 39.04806°N 95.67806°WCoordinates: 39°02′53″N 95°40′41″W / 39.04806°N 95.67806°W
Agency executive Jo Budler, State Librarian
Website State Library of Kansas Website

The State Library of Kansas is a department within the state government of Kansas, with locations in Topeka and Emporia. Jo Budler is the State Librarian.

History

The State Library was founded on the basis of the Kansas Territorial Library, first funded in 1855. In 1863, the Kansas Legislature made the first appropriations of $2,000 ($38.3 thousand in 2015 dollars[1]) to form the Kansas State Library. Originally, the collection consisted of a general collection and a law collection and was housed in the state auditor’s office who also acted as librarian. This proved unsatisfactory and an act in 1870 designated a board of directors and State Librarian appointed by the governor. The initial annual salary of the State Librarian was $500 ($9.33 thousand in 2015 dollars[1]). At this time, the State Library was housed in a room in the East wing of the Capitol. In 1900, the State Library was moved to its current site in the North Wing on the third floor of the Capitol.[2]

The State Library was built to include the first electric lighting in the Capitol building as well as a glass floor on the second deck. The third deck was added in 1917.[2]

The State Library’s services have changed and adapted as Kansans needs have changed. In 1889, the State Library began a traveling library service to serve rural Kansans. In 1964, a system of grants was developed to assist rural libraries. The needs of individuals with low vision are met through the Kansas Talking Books service begun in the early 1970s. A service to help Kansans obtain important U.S. and Kansas census information began in 1980. The State Library continues to serve the needs of state agencies, legislators, and the general public and will continue to grow and change.[2]

Locations

The research collections and most of the staff of the State Library of Kansas have been located on the third floor of the Kansas State Capitol at 10th and Jackson Streets in downtown Topeka, Kansas, since 1900. In December 2009, the staff was moved out of its third floor location in the State Capitol and into mobile units on the Capitol grounds during renovation of the north wing of the Capitol. The Library's collections were moved to an Annex in Topeka in April, 2010. A return to the third floor of the Capitol is scheduled from sometime in 2012. The Library's Talking Books Library is located in the lower level of the Emporia State University Memorial Union, in Emporia, Kansas.[3]

Online Databases

Databases available from the State Library- accessible from any computer maintained by DISC. The following are just a few databases offered on the Library's website:[4]

Kansas Center for the Book

The Kansas Center for the Book is a state affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. The Kansas Center for the Book affiliated with the national Center for the Book in 1987, and was hosted and headquartered at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library from then until 2005, when it moved to the State Library of Kansas. It is now a non-profit, tax-exempt program of the State Library. It presents the annual Kansas Notable Book Awards.[3]

Kansas Talking Books

The Kansas Talking Book Service, headquartered in Emporia, Kansas,[3] provides books, newspapers and magazines in braille and recorded format with playback equipment to any Kansas citizen unable to use standard print because of visual or physical impairment. The program is coordinated through the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.[3]

The Service heads a network of Kansas Talking Book subregional libraries located in Great Bend, Manhattan, Norton, Wichita, and Topeka, Kansas.[3]

Kansas Virtual Library

The Online Services division lends downloadable audio books, music, and video. For a tour of how it works go view the Digital Media Guided Tour. In order to use this service, a free software needs to be installed. This division also provides a Kansas Library Card, which allows access to these databases:[5]

This division also allows access Homework Kansas. Homework Kansas provides Free Tutoring in Math, Science, Social Studies, English (grades 4-12 and College Intro.) Their hours of operation are 4 pm to 11 pm, daily.[5]

Research and Information Division

The Research and Information Division serves the research and reference needs of state government and the general public. The Division, located in Topeka, has a collection of over 250,000 titles including books, magazines, current newspapers, U.S. federal documents, Kansas government documents, Kansas legislative material and a newspaper clippings file dating back to the 1920s. Research assistance is provided for walk-in, telephone, text message, instant message and email questions. Interlibrary loan service is also available providing material within the library's collection to people around the world.[6]

State Library of Kansas Board

The State Library of Kansas Board was created by Statute (K.S.A. 75-2546) in 2007.[7]

Eleven of fourteen members are appointed by the governor, including seven professional librarians. Ex officio members are the executive officer of the Board of Regents and the Commissioner of Education (or their designees) and the state librarian.[7]

By law, the board shall:[7]

Board members

Membership consists of seven professional librarians, a trustee of a public library, two representatives of the general public and one qualified member of the Kansas Federation of Women’s Clubs. Additionally, the board includes the Executive Officer of the Board of Regents, the Commissioner of Education, and the State Librarian as ex officio members. Members will serve four-year terms.[7]

A list of the Board Members is listed below:[7]

Ex-officio Members

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2014. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 State Library of Kansas History Accessed 14 October 2013
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 State Library Locations
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Online Databases
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.10 5.11 Virtual Library
  6. ↑ Research and Information Division
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 State Library of Kansas Board

Further reading

External links