3 KC Area Amigos Members Spotlighted in Kansas City Star
Amigos members Mid-Continent Public Library, Kansas City Public Library, and Cass County (MO) Public Library were the subjects of a recent article in the Kansas City Star titled "Local libraries offer up much more than books." The article outlines examples of the innovative things libraries are doing to attract users in an increasingly technology-driven world.
Featured in the article is Mid-Continent Public Library's new Espresso Book Machine, a book-printing device that can bind self-published or established manuscripts into paperback book form for library patrons. Mid-Continent staff and Director Steven Potter, a current member of the Amigos Board of Directors, discussed the library's new toy along with numerous tech-based initiatives the library is pursuing, including a partnership with the Truman Heartland Community Foundation.
Every Sunday, the Kansas City Public Library blasts to about 25,000 households an email full of activities for the week: lectures, theatrical productions, exhibits, recitations, films and more. While overall library visits has fallen in recent years, attendance at events has "exploded." The library recently introduced a new Netflix-like service called Hoopla, and produces a public affairs program "Meet the Past" that airs on local public television. Library Director R. Crosby Kemper III and Henry Fortunato, the library's director of public affairs, talked about the variety of events the library promotes.
The Cass County Public Library in Harrisonville saw its circulation plummet 21 percent in 2013. Despite the slide in circulation, however, the library still drew nearly 5,500 new patrons last year, nearly 20 percent of the total. Seth Hershberger, assistant library director, noted that many of those people are drawn to innovative programming like "Paws to Read," in which children read to therapy dogs, and pajama story times, in which children wear their PJs and slippers to the library for evening activities.