Lifelong Learning Center of Pemiscot County
General News
Please subscribe to our Caruthersville Public Library newsletter, along with Monthly updates to our “Sunday Movies at the Library”. These are located in the middle of our opt-in page, where you can also select from among several other book and media related subjects and genres to stay up to date on new books and materials, as well as what is coming up here at the library.
Caruthersville Public Library features a number of streaming services that help you to enjoy books, audiobooks and other entertainment at any time in the comfort of your own home, with only your library card number needed. (And call us anytime for that if you do not have your card.)
Access Video On Demand provides instant access to world-class documentaries, award-winning educational films, and helpful instructional videos covering a wide range of subjects, such as business, career planning, health, history, travel, and more.
Hoopla, sometimes called “Netflix for libraries”, is a web and mobile library media streaming platform for audio books, comics, e-books, movies, music, and TV. Patrons have unlimited access to its collection of digital media with ten free checkouts a month – and sometimes “Bonus Borrows” months are featured.
The Just for Kids Streaming Collection for public libraries gives children—and their parents—a thoroughly kid-safe, advertisement-free media platform they can freely explore and enjoy. Just for Kids has the educational videos children want to watch—Sesame Street, The Electric Company, The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, The Berenstain Bears, Franklin, and thousands more—plus songs, games, and other interactives that are sure to entertain, educate, and inspire young patrons. Plus, the collection includes activities for preschoolers and early learners, things to do in an after-school or daycare program, homework help for students, or resources for homeschoolers that they can access anywhere, anytime.
Kanopy is a free streaming service that is made available through public libraries and universities. Featuring content from big-name production companies like Paramount, the Criterion Collection, and HBO Documentaries, Kanopy is available as a resource to members of our library and more than 4,000 libraries around the world. The content is ad-free.
On February 18, 2022, Caruthersville Public Library celebrated its 100th birthday of serving the citizens of the city. Special programming and events related to this birthday will continue throughout the next year.
Caruthersville Public Library was founded on February 18, 1922 by the Caruthersville Women’s Club. Its first permanent home was a house which is still visible from Carleton Avenue on 10th Street. In 1940, a WPA project brought a brand-new library to the corner of 10th and Ward. Though that building is now the Caruthersville Municipal Court Building, the word “Library” still visible above the front door. In 2002, a large, modern 12,000 square foot building was built on the orignal Brown Shoe Factory property at the corner of Laurant and West 13th.
Caruthersville Public Library contains over 25,000 books, along with numerous magazines, videos, computers for public use, two conference rooms – one with a large-screen smart television – and the Baxter Southern Auditorium, which is a 104- seat theater/auditorium with projection screen and internet capability for conferences and events. The library also contains a children’s room with books on a variety of reading levels, from board books and easy reading to juvenile fiction and non-fiction, and a genealogy room houses hundreds of volumes for various states. This room, named after Kaye Norton Gill, a prolific area genealogist, contains much of her personal collection of genealogy volumes which she donated to the library before her death.
We have a beautiful fish pond with a waterfall on the back patio under the John L. VanAusdall Jr. Reading Pavilion, a wonderful place to enjoy a lunch, snack, or just some outdoor weather while reading.
Caruthersville Public Library services a population of 5,801 (in 2016) and is supported primarily by city funds, but also receives funding through the state of Missouri, as well as local donations. In 2017, a one-half cent sales tax to support the library was passed overwhemingly.
The Library is governed by the Board of Trustees, who are all residents of the city:
President Terri Callen
Vice-President Teddy Cheek
Secretary Paige Gillock
Treasurer Sally Fisher
Member Shawndrae Isable
Member Anne Jeffries
Member Jock Grantham
Member Wenlan Reno
Member Betty Toles
Director: Marsha Hayes
Head Librarian: Kay Snow
Library Address: 707 West 13th Street
Caruthersville, MO 63830
Phone: (573) 333-2480
Fax: (573) 333-0552