For decades, a collection of books and other historical records dating back to the late 19th century and early 20th century have been residing in a bookcase within the administration building at Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky. Now, those books – which capture official meeting minutes and client ledgers from CHNK’s early years – will be placed into the care of the Kenton County Public Library as part of a long-term loan between the two organizations.
The timing of the loan was chosen to coincide with COV200, the city of Covington’s upcoming, year-long bicentennial celebration that seeks to enhance and extend the understanding and image of Covington’s rich heritage.
“CHNK’s documents dating back to the 1800s reveal a story of Northern Kentuckians making certain that vulnerable children would be cared for no matter what the price,” director Rick Wurth said. “The documents capturing that story are extremely meaningful to our staff and trustees, but also to the tens of thousands who’ve received care over the past 132 years at this home. Dave Schroeder and our partners at Kenton County Public Library have proven themselves as ardent caretakers of such timeless records and have demonstrated their true interest in the mission of Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky.”
To celebrate the partnership and give the community an opportunity to view some of the documents, KCPL and CHNK are co-hosting a free event at the Covington branch of the library on Friday, Sept. 12, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. KCPL Executive Director Dave Schroeder and Wurth will lead a brief discussion about the home’s founder Amos Shinkle, how CHNK came to be established, the work CHNK does now and what the next chapter of treatment services looks like at CHNK.
After the event and as part of the loan, KCPL will store the materials in a temperature and humidity-controlled environment. CHNK has also given the library permission to microfilm and digitize the materials in order to make them available to researchers and historians visiting the library in person or via the KCPL website, thus providing another important tool in genealogy and local history searches.
“Our library has been collecting historical documents and genealogy for about 40 years,” said Schroeder. “CHNK has a wonderful history, and we were very interested in making some of those records available to the public and making sure they’re preserved. It’s a nice way for our two organizations to partner with one another and celebrate Covington’s history at the same time.”
The joint presentation on Friday is free and open to all. Complimentary limited parking is available in the library’s parking lot. The Covington branch is located at 502 Scott Blvd.
Founded in 1882, Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky operates two campuses – one in Burlington and the other in Covington. CHNK carries out its mission to be a community leader providing children and families with opportunity and hope for better lives by offering residential and community-based treatment programs for abused, neglected and at-risk children. Last year, the home impacted over 400 children and families in 33 counties across the Commonwealth. CHNK is a member of the Children’s Alliance, Kentucky’s voice for at-risk children and families.
The Kenton County Public Library has three locations – Covington, Erlanger and Durr in Independence. The library is consistently one of the top ranked public libraries in the state of Kentucky and served nearly one million visitors last year who checked out 2.2 million items.
The library also provides more than 6,500 free educational, informational and recreational programs and training classes annually. Learn more here. In 2013, the Kenton County Public Library was the first library in Kentucky to receive a Star Rating from the prestigious library publication Library Journal.
From CHNK/KCPL