Our Vision

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.

Who We Are

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 data base.

There are more than 600,000 items in the library collection; 350,000 of those are housed at the Main Library with the remainder distributed amoung our 9 branch libraries and bookmobile.

Patron visits to all libraries in the system total nearly 1 million per year and more than 1 million library items circulate in a year's time. These include books, videos, CDs, and DVDs.

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

Notice Under the Americans with Disabilities Act

In accordance with the requirements of title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"), the Kanawha County Public Library Board (KCPL) will not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability in its services, programs, or activities.

Employment: KCPL does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its hiring or employment practices and complies with all regulations promulgated by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under title I of the ADA.

Effective Communication: KCPL will generally, upon request, provide appropriate aids and services leading to effective communication for qualified persons with disabilities so they can participate equally in KCPL's programs, services, and activities, including qualified sign language interpreters, documents in Braille, and other ways of making information and communications accessible to people who have speech, hearing, or vision impairments.

Modifications to Policies and Procedures: KCPL will make all reasonable modifications to policies and programs to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy all of its programs, services, and activities. For example, individuals with service animals are welcomed in KCPL facilities, even where pets are generally prohibited.

Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in a program, service, or activity of KCPL should contact the office of Facilities and Security Manager, ADA Coordinator, 123 Capitol Street, Charleston, WV 25301 (304)343-4646 extension 291 as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled event.

The ADA does not require KCPL to take any action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services, or impose an undue financial or administrative burden.

Complaints that a program, service, or activity of KCPL is not accessible to persons with disabilities should be directed to:

Facilities and Security Manager
ADA Coordinator
123 Capitol Street
Charleston, WV 25301

KCPL will not place a surcharge on a particular individual with a disability or any group of individuals with disabilities to cover the cost of providing auxiliary aids/services or reasonable modifications of policy, such as retrieving items from locations that are open to the public but are not accessible to persons who use wheelchairs.