History of the Library

In April 1947, Cass County residents voted a one mill per dollar of valuation upon real and personal property to found a new library and the Cass County Library was born.  The new library was headquartered in Hotel Harrisonville (pictured to the right).  An opening tea attended by over 500 Cass County residents was held December 13, 1947.  

By the middle of the following year, branches had been established in Harrisonville, Pleasant Hill, Archie, Drexel, and Garden City.  The first Cass County Library bookmobile started service in May of 1948 serving 55 rural schools and making 86 stops per month.  Deposit libraries were opened in Peculiar, Raymore, East Lynne, Gunn City, Strasburg, Main City, Creighton, Cleveland, Pleasant Valley, Westline and Freeman.  (An independantly operated library in Belton did not merge with the Cass County Library until 1968.)

An article published in the Kansas City Star the year after the founding of Cass County Library identified the new library as "the third largest in the state in funds available being exceeded only by St. Louis and Jackson Counties" (The Kansas City Star, 9/25/48).