Best Local Library

The Main Branch of the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Library is not only a place to find books; it's a real community resource. It's even a place to hang out for entertainment -- having unearthed old films on original 16-mm prints, the library puts on several film festivals throughout the year. The library has also put up its share of controversial art in the past -- a show in which local artist Peter Maxx Lawrence used paintings to come out as a gay man was particularly notable, as was a collection of dictionary definitions of nigger from different periods in the history of the English language. If you hover around the place long enough, you're sure to hear a heartwarming story or two about the library's role in someone's life. We felt this most acutely when we were researching rap group Against da Grain, the first musical act to perform in the library's lunchtime summer-concert series. Frontman Daniel Hill used to be a drug dealer and gang member in KCK but turned his life around with his own record company; the library found out about the group through Hill's younger brother, who had come in to check out books on street slang to get ideas for raps. Talk about having your finger on the pulse of the city.