Additional information
by Jason Roe (Author), Matt Reeves (Author)
From the humble beginnings of a single bookcase in 1873, the Kansas City Public Library grew into a bedrock cultural institution with an ambitious mission of bolstering the people's welfare, inspiring lifelong learning, and empowering citizens through knowledge. Across one and a half centuries, Kansas Citians ranging from Walt Disney to entrepreneur Ewing Kauffman, civil rights activist Alvin Sykes, Mayor Kay Barnes, and Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II, have sought out the Kansas City Public Library's resources for professional inspiration, personal respite, and community uplift.
Author Biography
Jason Roe (PhD, University of Kansas, 2012) is Digital History Specialist at the Kansas City Public Library. He is a co-author of Wide-Open Town: Kansas City in the Pendergast Era (University Press of Kansas, 2018) and editor for the Library's award-winning websites, The Pendergast Years: Kansas City in the Jazz Age and Great Depression (PendergastKC.org) and Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865 (CivilWarOnTheWesternBorder.org).
Matt Reeves (PhD, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2020) is Public Programs Manager for the Linda Hall Library and a humanities kid from a family of nurses. He was previously Education and Outreach Librarian for special collections at the Kansas City Public Library. He lives in Kansas City with his partner, Claire, and her two children, Elora and Chandra.
