About

The Local History and Genealogy Department

The Missouri Valley Special Collections (MVSC) consist of the non-circulating local history and genealogy resources of the Kansas City Public Library as well as the Library’s archives.

Its mission is to preserve our area’s heritage and provide access in meaningful ways to the collections and materials.

Hours

Monday-Saturday: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Sunday: Closed

Missouri Valley Room

Soon after its creation in 1960, when the Library moved from 9th and Locust to 12th Street, the Missouri Valley Room became the place to find facts and stories about Kansas City history. The two-story windows on the west and north flooded the room with light, and the Daniel MacMorris murals along the east and south walls below the mezzanine/gallery appropriately illustrated the discovery, exploration, settlement, and development of the Missouri Valley region.

In 2004 the Central Library moved into the beautifully renovated First National Bank building at 10th and Baltimore. The Missouri Valley Room on the fifth floor opened September of that year and continues a tradition of offering a pleasant and comfortable place to study and research. It is dedicated to the memory of Dr. William Stone Woods (1840-1917), chairman of the National Bank of Commerce (present-day Commerce Bank) and a major benefactor to many regional causes including William Woods College in Fulton, Missouri.