Johnson County, Kansas Public Library Genealogical Holdings

The main branch of the Johnson County, Kansas Public Library is located at 87th and Farley. The website site is http://www.jocolibrary.org/default.aspx?id=2168&epslanguage=EN It has the following genealogical materials:

• Many genealogical “how to” books and reference books. Some are in the 917.xxx and 929.xxx sections (of the Dewey Decimal system) that are available to be checked out.
   
• Numerous family histories and histories of states and counties – all arranged by state
   
• Dozens of county newspapers starting in the 1860’s (a list is available at the reference desk)
   
• New England Historic Genealogical Register (NEGR) – on CD thru vol. 150, hard copy since then
   
• Sons of American Revolution publications (on CD and hard copy). All information applicable to Kansas is on microfilm.
   
• Local city and county directories from the 1880’s
   
• Kansas City annual phone directories (actual soft cover version) starting around 1955
   
• Indexes for many cemeteries in the county
   
• Kansas Biographical Reference Index for the accompanying books. Separate Johnson county index.
   
• Index of newspaper clippings starting with the 1970’s
   
• Johnson county obituaries starting in 1977 by year. Separate index card file by name (regardless of year) with the actual obituary on the cards (this index is located behind the reference desk). A sheet is available at the reference desk to explain how to search for obituaries in the Kansas City newspapers.
   
• Kansas City Star index starting in 1991
   
• Kansas Quarterly publication starting with the late 1800’s