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McCracken County Public Library A Timeline

555 Washington Street

The Beginning

December 30, 1964 - Carnegie Library building, which stood at Broadway and 9th street for 60 years, suffers extensive fire damage.

April 4, 1965 - Temporary location opens at 707 Broadway while the library's future is determined.

1968 - The library's original bookmobiles begin service.

April 8, 1969 - Bids for construction of the new library at 555 Washington Street are opened.

April 28, 1970 - A new 28,000 square foot library is opened to the public with a collection of 33,000 volumes. The new library is designed to hold 125,000 volumes and two-thirds of the second floor is left unfinished for future expansion. An anonymous gift of $50,000 retires all debt on the new building. The name of the library changes from “Paducah Area Public Library” to the “Paducah Public Library.”

Paducah Public Library

December 1975 - The Paducah Public Library collection grows to 80,000 books.

1982 - Interior renovations include rearrangements for the expansion of the reference collection area and a ten percent increase in general collection space. The children’s collection expands and relocates to the second floor. Additional work, study, storage and administrative space are also part of the redesign.

1984 - The library's collection grows to over 100,000 titles.

1992 - Major renovation of the interior of the library includes installation of the first online computer system. Increased funding by the McCracken County Fiscal Court and continued support of the City of Paducah provides additional upgrades.

1994 - The library's long-running education and entertainment series Evenings Upstairs begins.

1996 - The building's exterior gets a new look.

1998 - The library gets internet access.

January 1999 - New internet-connected computers are added, bringing the total at the time to 6.

McCracken County Public Library

2000-Present

1999 - McCracken County Fiscal Court established the McCracken County Public Library Taxing District.

July 1, 2000 - The library changes its name from Paducah Public Library to McCracken County Public Library.

2004 - The library expands its footprint, adding meeting space, a new room for Local and Family History, a reading room, and staff space for processing new materials.

2005 - The Library adds WiFi as a new free service.

2011 - The Homebound/Outreach program begins, allowing patrons that cannot physically visit the library get access to materials via delivery.

2013 - Renovations on the first floor of the library add staff offices and an updated Local and Family History room.

Construction on the Kentucky Ave. entrance in 2014.

Spring 2014 - Thanks to generous donations, a new awning and other upgrades are added to the Kentucky Avenue entrance.

Brary Bike

2017 - Brary Bike is introduced as the new librarian-powered outreach vehicle.

2018 - With support from the American Library Association and Google, the library begins to offer youth coding classes.

2019 - A new bookmobile service is announced. Service is planned to begin in 2020.

2020 - The building at 555 Washington Street turns 50 years old.

2021 - The new bookmobile, the "Brary Bus" begins visiting stops in the community.

Library Directors

1968-1994

Tom Sutherland

1994-1996

Ann Grimm

1996-2009

Marie Liang

2009-2016

Julie Hart

2016

Sarah Pace-McGowan (Interim)

2017-2021

Susan Baier

2021

Sarah Pace-McGowan (Interim)

2021 - Present

Justin Brasher

Library Programming Through the Years