The Kokomo Library
Kokomo is a city in Indiana that is located in Howard County. In fact the city is the county seat and is responsible for much tourism to this part of the country. The city of Kokomo Indiana is most well known for its historical landmarks including the Haynes Museum which is dedicated to the father of the first automobile Elwood Haynes, but in addition to this the Kokomo library is also one of the Kokomo sites that gets much recognition among the people who live here. The library was founded in 1885 making it one of the oldest in the state. It was originally called the Kokomo Free Library but then the name changed to the Carnegie Public Library in honor of the funder of a rebuilding project in 1905, Andrew Carnegie. This library was always run by the school board after their appointment in 1964 and until 1983 its name remained The Carnegie Public Library.
The Kokomo Library is responsible for promoting many of the community events in Howard County. One interesting services that is held here yearly is the Food for Fines event which is held from November 1st to the 30th. This event gets recognition in the county for one of the most unique occurrences in Kokomo. The event encourages people to give canned goods for the benefit of the less fortunate in exchange for the library fines that they incur. This not only promotes sharing in the city of Kokomo but it shows that the library cares about those that otherwise would go without a Thanksgiving meal. In addition to the Food for Fines event another interesting event that the Kokomo Library sponsors is the Howard County reads program. This program promotes literacy by encouraging people to come out and join in a reading and writing contest as well as other special events.