Kansas City Public Library is 150 years old, and it's changed a lot in that time

Tuesday marked the 150th anniversary of the Kansas City Public Library. KCUR's Up To Date broadcasted from the Central Library in downtown Kansas City to discuss the library's storied history, how it has changed over the years and what its future could look like.
This week, the Kansas City Public Library celebrates 150 years of public service.

The library is vastly different from when its doors first opened in 1873, when it was just an incomplete set of encyclopedias on a single shelf. But, CEO John Herron told KCUR's Up To Date, it's also much different from what it was just a few years ago.

"Many people in today's digital age have a very traditional understanding — and by traditional I mean limited understanding — of what a library can do for them," Herron said.

"There is a range of services that anybody who wants to start a business, you want to get a passport, you want to learn about a new activity, you want to increase your financial literacy or your health literacy," Herron continued. "All that can happen at a public library."