Kansas City Public Library Receives National Medal

Kansas City, MO – Five museums and five libraries, including the Kansas City Public Library, will receive the 2008 National Medal for Museum and Library Service at the White House Tuesday.

Each year, the federal institute of Museum and Library Services, in coordination with the White House, presents the medal to 10 museums and libraries for their "civic, educational, economic, environmental and social contributions."

The Kansas City Public Library was recognized for its Books to Go project, delivering books to more than 7000 preschoolers in child care programs each month, and for its free public events, an anticipated 230 in 2008.

"I think it's wonderful for the whole community," R. Crosby Kemper III, the library's executive director, says. "I think it represents the commitment of the community to ideas, to books, to reading, to culture."

At a White House ceremony with First Lady Laura Bush, each institution will receive the National Medal, as well as a $10,000 award.