There's something strange at the downtown St. Joseph library. No need to call the Ghostbusters, though. The Kindred Moon Paranormal Society is here.

Dressed in matching black T-shirts with the K.M.P.S. logo, 10 members of the group huddle around a table in the library director's office, working on a plan. They're here to investigate "Rosie."

"We came up here to collect some evidence on her and either prove or disprove she exists," says Michael McDonald, K.M.P.S. founder and lead investigator of the non-profit group from Columbia, Mo.

Rosie has been hanging out at the historic downtown library, built in 1902, for years, says Mary Beth Revels, library director.

"I talked with someone that retired in the 1980s, and she said they had Rosie encounters then."

And Rosie has been written about in a book about Missouri ghosts, which is why the KMPS wanted to investigate her. But surprisingly, nobody seems to know who she is or why she's called Rosie. There are no library records of any employees with that name, Mrs. Revels says.

But if you ask library employees who have had Rosie encounters, there's no question she exists. Karen Schultz will never forget one early morning when she heard typing on a computer keyboard in the children's room. The maintenance man was around the corner and heard it, too. They both went into the room to investigate.

"That was when the keyboards were real loud and clunky," Mrs. Schultz remembers. "We saw it and then it just stopped. I don't even think the computer was turned on, because we weren't open."

Vicky Thorton is one of several employees who have heard Rosie walking down the hall or steps with the distinctive sound of someone wearing high heels.

"Many times at night, I would be working and hear someone on the steps," she says. "I would look and look and nobody would be there."

In the past few weeks, every time someone has requested to check out the video "To Kill a Mockingbird" the tape will have been moved to somewhere it is not supposed to be. But is it Rosie?

"Anything weird around here is now always Rosie's fault," Mrs. Revels laughs.

Although the KMPS crew would love to discover a full apparition like they did at Ellis Library in Columbia, they try to stay skeptical, Mr. McDonald says. The goal is actually to "debunk" any claims using forensic-level, high-tech equipment and extensively reviewing digital audio and visual recordings. Overly high EMF (electro magnetic field) levels, for example, have been known to cause people to become paranoid and have hallucinations, he says.

"It takes a week or so to go over," Mr. McDonald says. "Everyone has a good ghost story, but can you back it up? I'm very hesitant to call a place haunted, unless it really is."

So is the library haunted?

Mrs. Revels says the crew had some interesting experiences. But you'll have to wait until they finish the investigation to know for sure. The results will be posted on their Web site www.kindredmoon

productions.com/kmps.

Lifestyles reporter Sylvia Anderson may be reached at sylviaanderson@npgco.com