and other cities. It also hosts two installations at community centers in partnership with the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department that provide automated library services and public Internet access. In fiscal 2008-2009, the collection held 3,544,072 items. Total annual circulation was 9,183,005 items, and it filled 1,773,586 intra- and interlibrary loans. Branch libraries served 4,673,737 visitors. Total attendance at live programming events for adults and families and for children was 318,639 patrons. The system has 466,344 registered borrowers. Annual circulation for the year exceeded one-half million items for each of the Mid-Continent Library's five busiest branches: Liberty, Lee's Summit, Colbern Road, North Independence, and Blue Springs South. The system has one of the nation's largest Summer Reading Programs, which was completed by 106,846 patrons in fiscal 2009. Midwest Genealogy Center On June 21, 2008, Mid-Continent Public Library inaugurated the Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence, Missouri. It is the largest stand-alone public genealogy research facility in America. The building houses a unique collection of records in almost completely open stacks. It holds 80,000 family history books, 100,000 local history items, 565,000 rolls of microfilm, and 7,000 maps. It also contains all available U.S. federal population census records and federal indexes, Civil War histories, immigration and naturalization records, ship passenger lists, Native American records, biographical archives, manuscripts pertaining to the American slave trade and the Antebellum South, Papers of the St. Louis Fur Trade, and a large variety of state records for Missouri and other states such as state censuses, tax records, penitentiary records, military service records, compiled records of Missouri Union and Confederate Army soldiers, approximately 50 Missouri newspapers, local newspaper indexes to obituaries and weddings, and genealogical periodicals. The center also has 10,000 volumes available for circulation in the “Genealogy from the Heartland Collection” created from donations by the American Family Records Association (AFRA), Missouri State Genealogical Association (MoSGA), Heart of America Genealogical Society (HAGS), Gann Family Association, and patron contributions. References External links Libraries.org | https://librarytechnology.org/library/20137 Public libraries in Missouri Genealogical libraries in the United States Kansas City metropolitan area Education in Jackson County, Missouri Education in Platte County, Missouri Education in Clay County, Missouri Libraries established in 1965 Buildings and structures in Jackson County, Missouri Buildings and structures in Platte County, Missouri Buildings and structures in Clay County, Missouri 1965 establishments in Missouri