Why Wichita libraries aren’t participating in program providing free state park permits

Thanks to a new statewide program, some Kansas residents can obtain free, one-day state park passes at libraries.

But not in Wichita.

“I don’t want to say a for-sure no, but at this time, we are not planning to participate [in the program],” said Sarah Kittrell, the Wichita Public Library’s collection development division manager.

The Kansas State Parks Library Program is a partnership between Kansas State Parks and Kansas public libraries. Through the program, people can get a Kansas State Parks vehicle permit valid for one day from any of the participating libraries, according to the program’s website.

The passes cannot be reused, and libraries must purchase them in order to participate.

“Because these are single-use passes that we can’t give to multiple people, reuse all summer or through the rest of 2022 — and due to the size of our community, what we perceive the demand to be and how we would make it an equitable distribution process — we do not feel that that is a model that works well for us and our current budget,” Kittrell said.

The permits cost $5 each and are sold in books of 25, which Kittrell said would be financially challenging for the library.

“That’s not an insignificant amount of money and we do serve a community of over 400,000 people,” Kittrell said.

The state program will continue through Dec. 31.

State Sen. Kristen O’Shea proposed the idea for the program to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks last fall as a way of allowing low-income Kansas residents and those in rural communities to access nature, said Kansas State Parks Library Program coordinator Riston Landwehr.

“We want to make sure all Kansas residents, no matter their financial status, [have] the opportunity to experience Kansas outdoors and Kansas State Parks,” he said.

Landwehr said the opportunity to participate in the program is open to all Kansas public libraries, and libraries can still join.

Although Wichita Public Library will not be participating in the Kansas State program at this point, Kittrell said the library is always looking for ways to expand its collections. For example, through the library’s “Library of Things,” holders of an adult public library card in good standing can check out various items, including finch robots, hotspots, radon detectors, telescopes and more.

Kittrell said she recommends for people interested to consider visiting the other Kansas libraries participating in the program to obtain a permit.

In the Wichita area, the Whitewater Memorial Library in Whitewater, about a 30-minute drive from Wichita, is participating in the program.

For a full list of participating libraries, you can visit the program’s website.

This story was originally published June 1, 2022 at 4:07 AM.