The State Library of Kansas is a department within the state government of

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, with locations in

Topeka Topeka ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeaste ...

and Emporia. Ray Walling was appointed acting State Librarian in June 2022. On January 19, 2023, Walling was confirmed by the Kansas Senate as the 18th Kansas State Librarian.

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 The Kansas State Capitol, known also as the Kansas Statehouse, is the building housing the executive and legislative branches of government for the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in the city of Topeka, which has served as the capital of Kansas si ...

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. Library staff and collections were returned to the third floor of the Capitol in December, 2012. The Library's Talking Books Library is located in the lower level of the Student Union,

Emporia State University Emporia State University (Emporia State or ESU) is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States. Established in March 1863 as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is the third-oldest public university in the state of Kansas. E ...

, Emporia, Kansas.

Kansas Center for the Book

The Kansas Center for the Book is a state affiliate of the

Center for the Book The Library of Congress's Center for the Book was founded in 1977 by Daniel J. Boorstin, the Librarian of Congress, to promote literacy, libraries, and reading and an understanding of the history and heritage of American literature. The Cent ...

in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. 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. Programs at the Kansas Center for the Book are: the

Kansas Notable Book Awards The State of Kansas Notable Book Awards are presented annually for fifteen notable books created by writers, illustrators or book design, book artists who are Kansans or have written about Kansas. The award, originally established in 2006, is or ...

, Kansas Reads to Preschoolers, and the Parade of States at the National Book Festival.

Kansas Talking Books

The Kansas Talking Book Service, headquartered in Emporia, Kansas, provides books, newspapers and magazines in

braille Braille ( , ) is a Tactile alphabet, tactile writing system used by blindness, blind or visually impaired people. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone device ...

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. The Talking Books service also hosts a book club and publishes a regular blog discussing what books are available or popular with the service. In 2022, the program partnered with the Ohio Library for the Blind to expand its collections through the use of the Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) service and mobile app. The Service heads a network of Kansas Talking Book subregional libraries located in Great Bend,

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, Norton, Wichita and Topeka, Kansas.

Online Services

The Library's online services are available to Kansas residents. Downloadable audio and ebooks are available online through a browser or various apps. The Library provides a Kansas Library eCard, which allows access to these databases: *A list of databases available can be viewed on the State Library's website a
library.ks.gov/databases
*Kansas Library eCards are available to Kansas residents and are issued by local public libraries in the state or by visiting the physical location of the State Library, located inside the state capitol building *Ebooks and audiobooks through various apps and services, including CloudLibrary, ComicsPlus, and Freading. *Online resources for financial and health literacy, automotive repair, career services, research and language learning programs, among many others.

Reference 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, instant message and email questions.

Interlibrary loan Inter-library loan (abbreviated ILL, sometimes called document delivery, document supply, inter-lending, inter-library services, inter-loan, or resource sharing) is a service that enables patrons of one library to borrow materials that are held by ...

service is also available, providing material within the library's collection to people around the world. The Reference division also offers a Legislative hotline, which has been in operation since 1975. Librarians with the reference division assist Kansans with basic questions about the legislature, including providing bill numbers, status, dates and calendar information. Constituents may also obtain contact information and leave messages for their representatives via this service. Hotline staff are unable to transfer calls to office staff or other numbers. The hotline can be reached at 1-800-432-3924.

References

External links

*
State Library of Kansas publications at KGI Online Library
{{Authority control Education in Shawnee County, Kansas Education in Topeka, Kansas Libraries in Kansas Organizations based in Topeka, Kansas

Library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

Public libraries in Kansas 1855 establishments in Kansas Territory Government agencies established in 1855 Libraries established in 1855