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MONDAY • JULY 28 • 2014
‘I want it to stand as it is for another 100 years’
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
A KANSAS BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION CRIME SCENE UNIT VEHICLE sits in front of a home in the 1100 block of New York Street Sunday. Lawrence police and the KBI were investigating a homicide at that location.
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photos
RAY WILBER, OF BALDWIN CITY, OPENS WINDOWS AT THE COAL CREEK LIBRARY in Vinland last Sunday. Community volunteers, like Wilber, share duties opening the library from 1 to 4 p.m on Sundays., from April through October.
Volunteers take pride in keeping the history of their town’s library alive an occupant wants to use a fan he runs a cord out the window to an electriWhile Lawrence cel- cal outlet on an adjacent ebrates the $18 million house. Community volunrenovation of its public teers such as Wilber share library, residents of the the duties involved in small village of Vinland, opening the library from 12 miles southeast of Law- 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays, from rence, are working to keep April through October. their one-room library in“I see it primarily as a tact and unchanged. museum. Kind of a time The Coal Creek Library capsule,” Wilber said. Association was founded “Mostly, I just want it to in November 1859 when stand as it is for another a group of neighbors sent 100 years.” $10 to Philadelphia, for There’s a need for some books. For the next 41 foundation and window years, the collection was work in the future, but housed in the homes of the community is supearly Vinland librarians. portive in maintaining the In 1900 a library building library. Ten years ago the was constructed on a lot porch was rebuilt and the purchased for building re$10. I see it primarily roofed. A week ago, as a museum. Kind “ B a s i historic prescally we’re e r v a t i o n i s t of a time capsule.” keeping the Ray Wilber, of weather Baldwin City, — Ray Wilber, historic presout,” Wilber swept the li- ervationist said. brary’s wood Inside it floors near a looks much cast-iron stove as it did in and opened windows to 1900. Around the exterior catch a summer breeze. walls bookshelves hold a There’s no air condition- collection of more than ing. In fact, right now 2,000 books. Several of the there’s no electricity. If first 100 books purchased,
By Mike Yoder
myoder@ljworld.com
“
Business Classified Comics Deaths
High: 83
Low: 56
7A 5B-9B 9A 2A
Staff reports
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Lawrence police continue to investigate the “suspicious” death of a woman reported Saturday in the 1100 block of New York Street. Cpt. Paul Fellers, a Lawrence Police Department spokesman, said police responded to a call Please see HOMICIDE , page 2A
NEAR THE TOWN OF VINLAND, THERE ARE FIVE BUILDINGS listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Coal Creek Library, right, built in 1900, is one of them. Established in 1859, it is considered the oldest continuously operating library in Kansas. including “The Life and Times of Alexander Hamilton,” by Samuel M. Smucker, and “Fruits, Flowers and Farming,” by Henry Ward Beecher, are still on the shelves. Photos of the founders of the library and a portrait of James H. Lane, U.S. senator from Kansas, are on the walls. Inside the front door is a desk with a donation can. “There is no funding,” Wilber said. “There’s a donation can on the desk and it ac-
cumulates maybe $50 a year.” Some references list the Coal Creek Library as the oldest continuously operating library in Kansas. The Lawrence library was founded earlier, in 1854, but William Quantrill’s raiders destroyed it in 1863 and a circulating library wasn’t started again until 1865. Regardless of the significance of the streak, that’s not the focus these days.
Events listings Horoscope Opinion Puzzles
As leases end, businesses get ready for moving season By Caitlin Doornbos Twitter: @CaitlinDoornbos
With leases for many Lawrence renters expiring July 31, business couldn’t be better for many local home improvement stores and services. As U-Haul trucks and unwanted couches line the streets, some local businesses are gearing up for their most chaotic — and profitable — season. Please see MOVING, page 2A
Please see LIBRARY, page 6A
INSIDE
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Police are investigating suspicious death as homicide
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1B-4B 10A, 2B
Vol.156/No.209 20 pages
Expert evaluation Today the Barker neighborhood will be evaluated on how livable the area is and what changes could be made to improve it. Page 3A
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