In November 1873 a public library was conceived by the Kansas City Board of Education by arranging a course of six popular lectures as a fundraiser to buy books.[1] Superintendent of schools, Dr. James Michlejohn Greenwood, selected these first books. A record of the origin of the Kansas City Public Library was solicited by Major L. K. Thacher via a Board resolution, adopted on November 19, 1891, resulting in the pamphlet titled A history of the Kansas City Public Library from 1873 to 1893. Prepared by order of the Board of Education by J. M. Greenwood, December 1, 1892.[2][3]: 5 

...at all times one grand object has been kept steadily in view, that Kansas City was quietly laying the foundation for one of the best libraries in the entire country ... that would reflect great credit on the enterprise, perseverance and intelligence of those farsighted citizens who started this movement during one of the greatest financial depressions ever known in the history of the country.