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A brand new Library has opened in Johnson County, and you’re invited to check it out!

The Monticello Library stands elegantly at 22435 W. 66th Street in Shawnee, KS and is the first new library location in the County since 1994. Design for Monticello Library benefitted from extensive public input and deep analysis of evolving needs for Library services in the 21st century. Scott Sime, project coordinator for the library system, said comments from residents have consistently centered around needs for meeting space, a robust children’s area and availability of diverse technology for public use.

“We haven’t built a brand-new library building since the 1990s, so it’s been a good opportunity for us to really think through what a library of the 21st century can be,” said Sime.

The Clark Enersen Partners of Lincoln, NE are the project architects, and local firm McCownGordon Construction helped bring the building to life. The two-story, 30,000+ square foot building features floor-to-ceiling glass along three sides designed to let in lots of natural light and to be stylishly visible to those driving by on Shawnee Mission Parkway. Total project cost is $18.1 million.

The Library and County identified a site in 2010, and the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System made a generous donation of adjoining land to provide adequate parking.

The building’s interior incorporates flexible spaces and design strategies so it can adapt to future uses and public needs without requiring physical expansion. 

The first floor features a dramatic central stair, self-checkout stations, new books and materials as well as a large area for children’s materials and programming. There is lots of cozy seating available along the windows, study rooms, an area for DVDs, magazines and other media and a large meeting room to seat up to 100 people. View a PDF of the floor plan tour here.

The second floor hosts adult fiction and nonfiction areas, teen materials, public computers including Mac workstations, one conference room and several additional study rooms. An ecologically sensitive green roof adjoins a terrace with ample seating. 

Since its inception in 1952, the Johnson County Library has grown to 13 (soon to be 14) locations! In this blog post we feature the history of the Edgerton Library.



The Johnson County Library had long wanted to provide more convenient library service to the city of Edgerton after the bookmobile ceased operation in the early 1980s. At that time permanent Johnson County Library locations in Gardner, DeSoto, and Spring Hill came on line. Edgerton residents needed to drive four miles to Gardner for full library services. For many years two carts of books for self-checkout stood in the Edgerton City Hall.

In 1991 rental space for a library was sought, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Funding was not available in 1997 when an Edgerton Library was again proposed. But the Johnson County Library and the people and city of Edgerton continued to work toward a library in that community. A solution was finally found. A former bank building conveniently located across the street from the post office and in the downtown area was acquired by the city in 1999. The Johnson County Library agreed to provide library service there and the city and people of Edgerton set about providing a setting for the provision of modern library services.



Community Development Block Grants and several hundred thousand dollars in funds raised by the Edgerton Library Task Force paid for much. Local citizens and businesses pitched in with skilled volunteers and materials. Furnishings and library materials were supplied by the Johnson County Library, which rents the facility from the city of Edgerton for a nominal charge.

On July 29, 2000, the Edgerton Library opened its doors to the public. Among the services offered were a wide range of library materials at the facility and requested items brought daily for other Johnson County Library locations, public-use PCs, a meeting room, and youth and adult programming including storytimes. Unique to the Edgerton Library were fishing rods and gear that could be checked out from under the “Cops ‘n Bobbers” program. Sadly, this program is one that got away and is no longer offered.

In 2001, its first full year in operation, 22,711 items were checked out at Edgerton and the branch received 19,150 visitors. The library is open 36 hours a week including two evenings and Saturdays. It is always busy after school.