Mid-Continent Public Library, officially known as Consolidated Library District #3, is a consolidated public library system serving Clay, Platte, and Jackson Counties in Missouri, with headquarters in Independence, Missouri. Mid-Continent Public Library is the largest public library system in the U.S. state of Missouri by number of volumes and size of budget. Its collection ranks among the 100 largest libraries in America, which includes university, public, and private collections, and is among the nation's 20 largest public library systems. (Note: The Kansas City Public Library is a separate library system with facilities primarily serving Kansas City in Jackson County, Missouri.) On May 8, 2014, the Mid-Continent Public Library received the National Medal for Museum and Library Service during a ceremony at the White House in Washington D.C. The medal is the country's highest honor awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. History The Independence Public Library was formed by the Independence Library Association in 1892 and the creation of the Citizens Improvement Association Library (later the Carnegie Library) in Excelsior Springs, Missouri in the 1890s. After World War II, Clay, Platte, and Jackson counties each formed library systems. They began collaborating in the early 1960s, and on November 10, 1965, Clay and Jackson formed the Mid-Continent Public Library Service as a joint administrative body, though each library retained separate governing boards and budgets. Even though they remained separate, their combined resources allowed them to merge administrative costs. Gaining the name Mid-Continent Public Library in 1968, the library system was well on its way to achieving its goal. Separating library services from school districts enabled them to expand library services to rural areas, which presently did not have services. Platte County joined the group in 1968. In 1978, seven years after the state legislature passed a law allowing for consolidated multi-county library systems, the Clay and Jackson libraries officially merged to form Consolidated Library District No. 3. Platte County joined a year later. Librarian James A. Leathers was influential in the creation of a regional library system and became the first Director of Mid-Continent Public Library Service. The library system is overseen by a Library Board of twelve members, four appointed by County Commissioners in each of the service region's three counties. It currently has 31 branches in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area of Missouri located in Kansas City, Independence, Liberty, Gladstone, Lee's Summit, Grandview, Blue Springs, Grain Valley,