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Johnson County Library, Overland Park, Kansas

Left to right: Mary Chute, Acting Director, Institute of Museum and Library Services; Mona Carmack, Johnson County Library Director; Entrepreneur and small business coach Denise Upah; First Lady Laura Bush. Photo by Steven E. Purcell. Click image for a larger version.

A myriad of successful programs that benefit all areas of Johnson County, Kansas, from the Kansas City suburbs, to small towns and rural communities, distinguish the work of the Johnson County Library. The Johnson County Library continually seeks new opportunities to serve its community, and in partnership with community organizations, the library has created innovative and exceptional programs while enhancing traditional services.

Overland Park resident and businesswoman, Denise Upah, who researched and planned her $50-million technology company at the Johnson County Library, will accept the award alongside Mona Carmack, Johnson County Public Director, and Terry Goodman, Chair of the Library Board of Directors.

Biographies of Participants

Denis Upah, Entrepreneur and Mother of Three Teenagers
Denise Upah has discovered the great secret of the local library, and the discovery has enriched her personally and professionally. As the wife of a military man, Ms. Upah has become accustomed to picking up her three children, saying goodbye to old friends, and making new ones. It is a difficult but rewarding experience, thanks to local libraries. Ms. Upah recalls how she and her children loved their spontaneous evening excursions to each new neighborhood library. She would bring the children, in their sweat suits and their bedroom slippers, over to the neighborhood library, to snuggle up on the couches in the children’s section for some nighttime reading before returning home to retire for the evening.

The children are teenagers now, too old for such slumber parties, but for her current endeavors, Ms. Upah has found another valuable ally at the library—the reference librarian. At the Johnson County Library, Ms. Upah has found free community meeting rooms, free reference materials, and, most important of all, free professional research from the reference librarian (whose number she keeps on her speed dial). Because of these resources, Ms. Upah has been able to build a very successful business consulting firm, Six Degrees Solutions. She and a business partner began meeting at the Johnson County Library three or four times a week to brainstorm their business idea. With the personal assistance and guidance of the library staff, the partners soon had researched, developed, and completed their business plan. In less than a year their business developed into a $50-million technology company. Ms. Upah now helps hundreds of small business owners like herself network and grow their companies. She consistently recommends that her clients start their market research at the library, and she conducts workshops on how to use the library’s business collection and online resources.

With each move Ms Upah makes to a new city, her network of business contacts widens, yet she always begins each new venture with a trip to the local library.

Mona Carmack, Director
Mona Carmack has served as a public library director for 37 years, with the past 17 as the County Librarian of the Johnson County Library. She has served as director of the Great River Regional Library, St. Cloud, Minnesota; Ames (IA) Public Library; and Brookings (SD) Public Library. Her biography is included in the 2005 edition of Who's Who Among American Women. She has been honored by the Kansas Library Association with a Presidential Award and the Mountain Plains Library Association with a Distinguished Service Award. Professional involvement includes service as president of the South Dakota Library Association and the Minnesota Library Association as well as many other committees and organizations.

Terry Goodman, Board Chair
Terry Goodman was appointed to the Library Board in 2000, and is serving his second term as Chairman. He has been involved in the real estate and mortgage banking business in Johnson County for 35 years. He is a past member and chair of the Overland Park Planning Commission, elected for a second term on the Overland Park City Council, and currently serves as the chair of the Council's Community Development Committee. He has served as president of the Rotary Club of Overland Park, and as a trustee of the Overland Park Rotary Foundation. He and his wife, Frances, are the parents of two adult daughters.