MERRIAM, Kan — After nearly 70 years in service the Johnson County Library will be permanently closing the doors of it's Antioch Library branch located in Merriam, Kan.
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Antioch Library's last day of service will be January 28th , after that the building will be closed. The library first opened in 1956 as a leased space and served as the Johnson County Library's headquarters at one point. Nearly one million items have been checked out from the Antioch Library over the course of five years and it's one of the most popular libraries for computer use.
"We're trying to make an empty building into a library so it does take a while to pack up all the books," said Elissa Andre, Marketing Communications Manager for Johnson County Library, " we've got years and years of records and documents, we found boxes of old photographs of people that haven't worked here in decades."
According to Andre, the current building had limited parking, and it would require costly repairs to keep operations running. Librarians say at times the power would go out of the building due to its aging infrastructure, and they understand the need for a new space.
"This building definitely has had its challenges because it is one of the oldest libraries, and we have had to have some creative workarounds to get things done," recalled Katherine Fuller, librarian at the Antioch Library.
Johnson County will be opening up the Merriam Plaza Library this spring which will feature a drive-thru, shared green space with the Merriam Community Center, new shelving while including the same staff and collection currently at the Antioch Library.
The more than $13.6 million project was funded by through the Library’s Comprehensive Library Master Plan, which was approved by the Library Board and the Board of County Commissioners in 2015. Andre states Merriam residents didn't see a tax increase.
It's still unclear what will happen to the Antioch Library which is owned by the Library Board of Directors.
"A lot of our patrons, have deep history at the Antioch library, they've come here as children, they've brought their children here, they brought their grandchildren here. So they have a definite connection to this building," said Fuller.
