About the Library

The Kanawha County Public Library is the largest public library system in West Virginia. We have nearly 100,000 card holders, and while the vast majority of our library system patrons are from Kanawha and Putnam Counties, residents from all 55 West Virginia counties are represented in the cardholder database.

There are more than 600,000 items in the library collection; approximately 300,000 of those are housed at the Main Library with the remainder distributed among our 9 branch libraries and Mobile Library.

Patron visits to all libraries in the system total nearly 750,000 per year, and approximately 1 million library items circulate in a year’s time.

Almost 100 percent of the library’s services are FREE to the public.

Vision Statement

We envision the Kanawha County Public Library as the people’s premier source of information in a community where learning and reading are revered and being well informed is valued.

Mission Statement

 The mission of the Kanawha County Public Library System is:

• To provide free and equal access to information

• To provide citizens with job training and career development information that will prepare them for a competitive job market

• To enrich individual and family lives through satisfying educational, recreational and cultural experiences

• To enable patrons to access new information technology

• To provide opportunities for lifelong learning

• To serve as the center of community life

• To use available resources efficiently

• To seek additional resources