One of the first Johnson County Library branches to open was in Prairie Village. Although the voters had approved establishing the Library the year before, funding was not yet available. Volunteers in 1953 opened a branch in the Prairie Village Shopping Center. It was in donated space in the basement of a shop with donated books, shelving and other furnishings. By 1956 funding was available and a professional librarian was hired. The branch moved above ground to a rented storefront on the Concourse.
That year four libraries, all in rented space, and a bookmobile now served now served 100,000 persons. A bond issue went before voters in 1961 to purchase the Antioch Library building and expand it, purchase a site and build a library in Prairie Village, and to purchase additional branch sites. Corinth opened its doors to the public on February 24, 1963. The branch site and that of the adjacent Corinth Shopping Center were already famous in Kansas City history. The clothier Herbert Woolf built Woolford Farm on 200 acres and raised thoroughbred racing horses. He hosted lavish parties whose guests included Theodore Roosevelt and many other notables. In 1938 his horse Lawrin won the Kentucky Derby. Lawrin is buried on the top of the hill just west of the library.
Voters in 1967 approved another bond issue as the population continued to grow rapidly, and Corinth was expanded to its current size. Corinth served the affluent neighborhoods of Prairie Village, Leawood, and Overland Park. Young families were raising the Baby Boomers. Schools and public libraries were getting a workout. During this period Corinth had the largest adult fiction and youth collection in the system.
The 1970s and early 1980s saw Friday evening and Sunday hours added at Corinth, and then cut back due to budget constraints. In 1988, Corinth underwent an interior renovation, adding an elevator to the basement level youth area, adding emergency egress, and opening up windows to the east. Roof repairs were undertaken in 1998. Corinth remains one of the busiest libraries in the Kansas City metro area, attracting users from many parts of the regions. The structure is near the end of its life and the recent Facilities Master Plan 2010-2030 calls for replacing the present building on the same site.
By the numbers (2012)
Visitors: 259,470
Items circulated: 502,881
Collection total items: 120,612
Number of programs: 134
Staff full-time equivalents: 14.71
Square footage: 20,475
