Planning for a new Corinth Library entered a new era this week, as members of the county library board began to discuss next steps now that a plan to build a new Prairie Village community center is officially dead.
Library board members took up the topic Wednesday during a retreat at the Merriam Plaza Library. The bulk of their discussion focused on the ins and outs of rebuilding at the Corinth Library’s current location, 8100 Mission Road, in Prairie Village.
The new direction was made necessary by a Prairie Village City Council vote last week that killed a proposal for the library to co-locate a new facility with a new community center near Harmon Park — an idea that had been considered in some for dating back to 2019.
Corinth branch now oldest in JoCo Library system
The proposal called for the YMCA of Greater Kansas City to operate the community center, which, along with the library, would have been built near the northwest corner of the city’s civic campus, next to the city pool and Shawnee Mission East High School.
The plan would have replaced the aging Paul Henson Y, near the corner of 79th Street and Mission Road, but the city and the Y could not agree to the terms of a potential deal.
Corinth Library, which opened in 1963, is now the oldest in the county library system. It was last renovated in 2002, and the funds for its replacement have already been allocated.
But library officials didn’t necessarily agree that moving to Harmon Park would have been an improvement. County Librarian Trisha Suellentrop said staff had been working on a recommendation to the library board saying the idea wouldn’t have been a good fit even before the city council’s decision last week.
Pros and cons of building new library at same spot
During Wednesday’s informal retreat, board members were asked to list the pros and cons of rebuilding at the current location, as well as other options.
Most of the discussion revolved around the advantages of using the library’s current location on Mission Road and how library services could continue while construction of an updated branch is underway.
Board members listed several positives to keeping the library in the same location, including public support, sentimental value and potential cost savings. Moreover, the current location is highly visible along Mission Road and is already owned by the library.
Disadvantages to staying put included the earthwork and retaining walls that would be necessary for a rebuild and the need to provide library services while the building is under construction, which could last 18 months to two years.
Board members discussed two possibilities for what to do while construction was ongoing:
- closing the branch entirely and setting up a smaller satellite branch elsewhere,
- or walling off part of the current library building for use while the rest is under construction, as was done with the Central Resource Library when that branch was renovated in 2021.
Some board members at the retreat suggested a mobile library be acquired to accommodate the temporary disruption to Corinth. The mobile library could then be kept in use throughout the county afterwards.
Challenges to moving
Although some said selling the current property could make more money available for other uses, relocating had its own challenges.
Suellentrop said moving the library north could potentially bump into the service area covered by the Cedar Roe branch in Roeland Park.
Likewise, moving south could conflict with Leawood, and going west could cut into Central Resource’s territory.
There’s no requirement that the library stay in Prairie Village, she said.
“We really look at the service area,” Suellentrop said Wednesday.
Board member David Sims said library officials should consider checking for other land available to buy in the area, if only for the sake of doing its due diligence.
No official action was taken Wednesday. The discussion was intended to give staff direction for future meetings.
