Lexington Public Library

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Tates Creek Branch
Location Hours

Monday-Thursday: 9:30am-7:00pm
Friday: 9:30am-6:00pm
Saturday: 9:30am-5:00pm
Sunday: 1:00pm-5:00pm

Location Mailing Address

3628 Walden Drive
Lexington, KY 40517

Destination Kindergarten

Destination Kindergarten is the library’s program aimed at preschoolers and their caregivers- trying to help them practice the skills they need to be ready for Kindergarten.  During each Destination Kindergarten event, preschoolers and their caregivers can find a specalized area in the library with fun books, take-home activities, and information about development milestones and school readiness.

See below for more information on upcoming events and take-home packets and activities.

Highlight

The Undesign the Redline project unearths the deep and systemic history of structural racism and inequality in the United States. This interactive exhibit explores policies like Redlining, their implications for today, and what we can do to undesign them. 

The exhibit was created by social impact design studio designing the WE and has been invited to dozens of cities across the country. A local advisory group has helped to produce local history and stories about Redlining in Lexington. 

Library meeting rooms are available for individuals, non-profit, for profit, study groups, and community organizations seeking to hold meetings, trainings, and workshops.  Meeting rooms are free of charge.  Sterno and other tools/equipment that have an open flame are prohibited.

The William Stamps Farish, III Theater at the Central Library is available to the community for lectures, live music, community forums, film festivals, small theatrical productions, dance performances, literary readings, debates, and other creative uses.

Highlight

Find out what's happening at our locations.  Browse upcoming events and discover our dedicated learning spaces.  Reserve a meeting room.  Explore our galleries and special collections.

Digital Archives - Collection

Lexington's school system dates back to the city charter of 1831, and it first school opened in 1834. From a single building in 1834 with about 100 students, today the Fayette County Public School system has over 40,000 students and 68 schools and programs. Lexington and Fayette County combined districts in 1968, shortly before the city/county government merger in 1974.

Digital Archives - Collection

St. Paul the Apostle Roman Catholic Church was formally created in the Covington Diocese in 1868, by Father John Bekkers. Still an active parish, the church has celebrated its 150th anniversary and is still in its original building in downtown Lexington.

 

 

Digital Archives - Collection - Group
Kentucky Images

The Kentucky Images collection contains postcards, photographs and slides of people, architecture, and locations in Kentucky and Appalachia.

 

New facility will remain at previous location with a larger footprint and expanded offerings

Lexington, Kentucky (August 18, 2022) – The Lexington Public Library broke ground on a new, significantly larger facility in the former Village Branch location on Versailles Road to better provide for the needs of the neighborhoods it serves. The new branch will reflect the community’s vision for a state-of-the-art community hub, one that offers robust resources and a myriad of program and service offerings. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on Tuesday at a media event featuring Library and City officials.

Digital Archives - Collection
Johnston Albert Young III, was born on May 25, 1924, to Johnston and Lillian Shrout Young. Johnston Young’s father died on November 30, 1938, when he was 14. He served in the US Army from April 1943 to January 1946. During that time, he was deployed to the Pacific Ocean theater. He married Carolyn M. Cameron in 1949. Johnston Young died on September 26, 1986, and is buried in Owingsville at the Owingsville Cemetery, along with his wife and parents.
 
This letter collection is a part of the Bath County Memorial Library Community Collection, and was donated to the library by Tatonya Brock for their local history collection. 
Primary Page

Meet the Lexington Public Library's Board, Administrative Team, and Leadership Team.  Apply to work or volunteer at the library.

Digital Archives - Collection

In 1917, the Woman’s Club of Central Kentucky hosted a series of speakers giving historical sketches on people and places of local interest. Maude Ward Lafferty’s speech in February of 1917 detailed a brief history of Lexington and specifically detailed the Block House on Main and Mill, Lexington’s first house, and the Town Branch Trail running through downtown Lexington. The entirety of the speech was printed in the newspaper, along with relevant maps.

Board Member
Advisory Board

Craig Cammack is a graduate of Hanover College, where he studied political science and social movements. He has been a vocal advocate for legislation promoting equality and fairness. Craig was Chairman of Lexington Fairness in 2010, 2011, and 2012. While Craig served on the board, Lexington Fairness grew dramatically with a focus on outreach to Ally support groups, organizations and businesses.

Craig is a recipient of the Michael Thompson Community Service Award, Henry Faulkner Community Service Award, Jose Julio Sarria Equality Award, Ernesto Scorsone Political Leadership Award and induction into the Fairness Hall of Fame from Lexington Fairness.

He and his husband, Joseph, served as state foster parents, beginning in 2012, and adopted their two sons, Gabriel and Conner in 2014. Craig served as Legislative Aide to Councilmember Susan Lamb and is currently Community Outreach Liaison and Deputy Director of Communications in the office of Mayor Linda Gorton. He is the city government’s point person for LGBTQ initiatives, veterans affairs, school outreach, and neighborhood associations.

E-mail Craig Cammack

Grand Opening set for Saturday, March 9

Lexington, Kentucky (January 17, 2024) – Lexington Public Library is proud to announce the Grand Opening of the Marksbury Family Branch of the Lexington Public Library.

Festivities include a Media Day event on Friday, March 8 from 8:30-10am and a Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday, March 9 (more details coming soon). The current Village Branch will remain open through 6pm on Friday, February 23.

Highlight

From early literacy to beyond, we're here to support your child's education.  Find out about programs like Destination Kindergarten, LPL After School, and Student Success.  Educators can apply for a Teacher Card and request a "bucket of books" or storytime kit.

Digital Archives - Collection

The Kentucky Chautauqua Assembly presented an annual event in Lexington’s Woodland Park with days of programming. Presentations varied from live music and entertainment to lectures and speeches from national figures. The Kentucky Chautauqua began in 1887, to great popularity, and continued through 1903. After Woodland Park was taken over by the city and reconstructed in 1904, new Chautauqua series did take place by the Lexington Chautauqua and later the Redpath circuit Chautauqua.

The Lexington Public Library collection has two programs, detailing the events for the 1892 and 1896 Kentucky Chautauquas.

Digital Archives - Collection

Mountain Ballads for Social Singing contains 15 songs selected for the Vesper Hour gatherings at Berea College. The songs were part of a larger collection, English Folk Songs in the Mountains of the Southern Appalachians, which was published in 1918 as American-English Folk-Songs: collected in the southern Appalachians and arranged with pianoforte accompaniment.

Digital Archives - Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune during the early years of the twentieth century. Lantern slides are glass positive transparencies, viewed through a back lit projector. The Lexington Public Library does not have record of when the slides were donated, or the donor’s name. Records do indicate that the library purchased a projectoscope for viewing glass slides in 1912, and a separate lantern slide collection was donated to the library in 1919. The slides contain examples of posed portraiture, scenery from around Kentucky, documentation of the new High Bridge, as well as several historic buildings and homes, some of which are unidentified.

He was born in Glastonbury, Connecticut on February 27, 1863, the son of Edwin Foote and Ellen Hodges Foote, both natives of Connecticut. He came to Cincinnati about 1884 and married Estelle Allee of Cincinnati in 1888. Foote died at age 56 in Norwood, Ohio on September 21, 1919 and is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio. Foote's obituary in the Commercial Tribune of September 22, 1919 describes him as nationally known, and mentions his "photographic genius." The article further describes Foote's pictures taken among the Cumberland Mountains and outdoor scenic snow views, appearing at intervals in the Commercial Tribune, as photographic classics.