Q: What is the history of Shawnee Library?

Shawnee Library originally opened as the first JCL branch on June 3rd, 1953 in the Old Dunbar School in Shawnee on Reeder Road. Paid staff replaced the original volunteers in 1955. The branch closed in 1958 due to budget cuts. On April 5, 1992 the current Shawnee Library opened. The design was so different that it won awards and was pictured in the 1992 Library Journal’s annual Architecture Issue in 1992.    

2018 statistics:

Visitors: 146,678  

Items Circulated: 251,368

Square Footage: 10,975

Article researched and originally written by Jerry C. Roy, 2010.

Edited and Updated by Melody Kazmi, 2019.

Last Updated: Sep 25, 2019     Views: 61
Answered By: Johnson County Reference