Books and Beyond
McCreary County Public Library celebrates 40 years of success
Photos by Eugenia Jones and submitted
McCreary County Librarian/Director Kay Morrow (Center) smiles as she and library assistants Debbie Lyons (Left) and Ricki Weaver Godsey (Right) browse through a photo album filled with photos depicting forty years of fun and hard work at the library.
The McCreary County Public Library (MCPL) is a success story. Celebrating its fortieth Anniversary this year, the library began writing page after page of success in the summer of 1975 when a county-wide petition created the library tax district allowing library taxes to be collected that fall.
In November, a young, enthusiastic librarian was hired to begin work in January of 1976. The excited but inexperienced librarian began her job with a core collection of 10,000 books garnered from the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, a location in the basement of the McCreary County Courthouse, support from the assistant regional librarian and local library board, and a lot of hard work ahead of her.
Today, forty years later, that first librarian, Kay Morrow, is the longest serving public librarian in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and is the 2005 recipient of the New York Times Librarian Award. MCPL is now housed in its very own state-of-the art building with more than 50,000 books and a monthly book circulation topping 6,500. In addition, a wide array of videos, DVDs, CDs, e-books, audio books, and equipment are available for check out. Patrons of the McCreary County Public Library can bring their children for crafts and stories, trace their family histories, use computers to complete job resumes, or research law in the reference section. Dedicated to making sure every citizen of McCreary County can use the library, MCPL reaches out to the public through the library, book mobile, and online digital library.
Morrow can’t believe how quickly her forty years with the library have passed.
“We had our grand opening on the same day as McCreary Central High School,” she recalled. “They ran buses back and forth between the two buildings.”
“We’ve had help and direction all along the way,” Morrow remarked. “The State Department for Libraries and Archives, the regional staff, the local library boards, and all of our staff throughout the years have been great. The Job Corps helped when we needed them, and we’ve had some wonderful volunteers from the community. So many people and organizations have been part of the journey.”
Morrow finds satisfaction in seeing the library make a difference in people’s lives.
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- McCreary County Librarian/Director Kay Morrow (Center) smiles as she and library assistants Debbie Lyons (Left) and Ricki Weaver Godsey (Right) browse through a photo album filled with photos depicting forty years of fun and hard work at the library.
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- For a small fee, patrons can have copies made at McCreary County’s public library.
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- Patrons enjoy computers and books at the McCreary County Public Library.
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- Legos are a popular event at the library.
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- Library assistant Debbie Lyons helps Cinnamon learn about computers at the McCreary County Public Library
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- Dr. Seuss’s Cat in the Hat made recently made a visit to the McCreary County Library. He is pictured above with Librarian/Director Kay Morrow.
“A young man, now grown and living in North Carolina, messaged us about a book he always read in the summer reading program,” Morrow shared. “We found an extra copy of that book with his childhood signature still on the check-out card. We sent that book to him. It was James Baldwin’s “Story of Roland.” It’s a good feeling to know one of our books made such a lasting impression on that young man.”
Morrow and her staff are dedicated to making the library a welcoming place for patrons.
“We are all working to make a difference,” Morrow emphasized. “We greet people and treat them as individuals. For some, we are like family. For children, we are a safe place. We want our patrons and our community to know we care.”
