Kansas City, Mo. ? Former banker R. Crosby Kemper III is taking on a new role as interim director of the Kansas City Public Library.

Last May Kemper resigned unexpectedly as chairman and chief executive of UMB Financial Corp. and was replaced by his half brother, J. Mariner Kemper. Their father, R. Crosby Kemper Jr., a philanthropist and longtime head of the financial services company, retired in October as its senior chairman.

Kemper starts work at the library Monday, planning to spend six months preparing a new strategic plan. He said he wouldn’t rule out taking the job permanently, but that it’s not his immediate focus. Joseph Green resigned as the library director in April after a little more than a year in the job.

Kemper, who has been active in efforts to revitalize Kansas City’s downtown, said the library could help spur renewal.

“The library is in the middle of a renaissance, and downtown is on the verge of a renaissance,” he said.

While Kemper has spent most of his career in banking, he has long had strong literary interests, having taught English at a Chinese university He also edited a book about Winston Churchill. He is vice chairman of the Truman Library Institute and in 2003 and 2004 he was chairman of the Commission on the Future of Higher Education in Missouri.