While visits to the library’s digital branch are skyrocketing, visits to brick and mortar locations, including the downtown Central Library, have declined in recent years. Online and traditional materials remain essential library offerings. But art exhibits and performances serve to inspire in-person visits. With funding being cut at federal and state levels to both libraries and arts organizations, tying into the city’s existing creative infrastructure provides expanded opportunities at lesser cost.

The Central Library is hosting five Art in the Loop performances in 2017, part of the move to bring public art and performance to downtown. It also is staging a yearlong series of exhibits and a spoken word performance featuring former Charlotte Street award winners. "First Friday" open houses, billed as "Art Starts at the Library," are a feast of family engagement: live music, gallery exhibits and children’s activities (often tied to an exhibit).

By partnering with Art in the Loop and the Charlotte Street Foundation, KCPL can host an array of local artists through exhibits and performances. "First Friday" events ("Art Starts at the Library") have averaged 151 attendees, many of them new library patrons. The impact of art and culture on a community is well known, and the library’s ability to provide free access to exhibits and events advances the cultural literacy of an increasingly art-minded city.