History

The Caney City Library was established in 1869 by a small group of women in the young and growing community. During its early years, the library was housed in several locations, including Thules Bakery, the Post Office, above Memphill’s Meat Market, the Porter Building, and St. John’s Drug Store. At that time, members of the Sigourneyan Club opened the library one afternoon each week.

In 1892, the library found a more permanent home in an alcove of the Caney High School. Records from the era note that it “served 35 a week.”

Photo of the Closet Library in 1892.

Taken from the 1910 Caney City Directory

An excerpt from the 1922 yearbook describes the next major transition:

“In 1914, when we moved into the present High School building (that was located on 4th Avenue), the city and the high school libraries were placed in the room now known as Room Nine. We soon outgrew those quarters and in the Fall of 1922 we moved into our present room, formerly used as the study hall.  Pupils have the free use of all books in both libraries, which are being constantly added to. The city library has a total of 1995 books and the high school library has 826, making a total of 2,821 books.  Mrs. Eva Jarvis has been the high school librarian since Jan 1914, and city librarian since 1897.”

Photo of the Second Library

In 1941, the library was moved to the Washington School building.

In 1969, the heirs of the A.J. Canary Estate presented the city with the building that had once housed the Post Office. A gift of $4,000 from the Southeast Kansas Library Association made it possible to move, remodel, and create a fine new facility at 105 W. 4th Street.

In 1977, a fire destroyed the library. Some materials were salvaged and moved to temporary quarters in the old Caney National Bank.

Wakeland Grocery Photo

In 1978, the former Wakeland Grocery became the new home of the Caney City Library, where it remained for the next 38 years.

By 1988, a visual inventory recorded 11,928 books, 25 audiobooks, 125 videos, and 30 periodical subscriptions.

On November 29, 2005, the Can‑Kan Dreambuilders formed to begin raising funds for a new library building.

Jennifer Rosson, Pam Ernest, and Chris Bannon

After many years of dedication — and thousands of dollars raised through cupcake and cookie sales, chicken‑noodle dinners, and other community fundraisers — enough money was secured to apply for a matching grant, which was awarded with the help of the City’s grant writer.

The new library building is 4,889 square feet and cost $500,000 to construct.

Groundbreaking took place in May 2015 — an exciting milestone for the entire community.

On February 9, 2016, the library opened its doors at its new location, 211 W. 5th Avenue, on the site where the old City Hall once stood before being moved and later razed. Bricks from the former City Hall were salvaged and incorporated into the new building, bringing a piece of Caney’s past into its future.

By 2015, the library’s inventory included 14,567 books, 200 audiobooks, 536 DVDs/VHS tapes, 36 periodicals, and 1,124 interlibrary loans.

By 2019, the collection included 12,039 books, 309 audiobooks, 1,782 DVDs/Blu‑Rays, and 4,645 interlibrary loans. Including e‑books, the total collection reached 138,664 items.

We remain excited about our future and our continued growth as we serve the Caney community.