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Wonderful podcasts and walking tours have been created by our staff. Please enjoy!
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Discover unique resources in our Digital Archives that tell the story of Fayette County. Visit cemeteries throughout Central Kentucky using our cemetery maps. Contact our resident experts in the Central Library's Kentucky Room with questions. The Lexington Public Library is a FamilySearch Affiliate Library.
These tours are guided audio walking tours with a variety of topics focused on Downtown Lexington, KY. Music will play in between each stop, and the listener can pause the track while walking between stops.
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Join us for a walking tour of Lexington's Historic Lexington Cemetery. The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops. You can pause the track while you walk between stops.
This tour covers a walking distance of approximately 1.5 miles.
Please note: You will be walking on paths also used by cars. Please take special care to watch and listen for approaching vehicles.
The music clips used in this tour are from “Walking Barefoot on Grass” by Kai Engel, and are used with a CCBY license. It is available here: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/
Join us for a walking tour of Lexington's Historic Lexington Cemetery. The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops.
Join us for a walking tour highlighting Lexington's unique role in Abraham Lincoln's life.
Tour Length: 1.42 miles
This tour is adapted from the 2009 Tour created in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth by a partnership between the Lexington Public Library, the Isaac Scott Hathaway Museum, and the Mary Todd Lincoln House.
The music clips used in this tour are from “Walking Barefoot on Grass” by Kai Engel, and are used with a CCBY license. It is available here.
Join us for a walking tour highlighting Lexington's unique role in Abraham Lincoln's life.
Tour Length: 1.42 miles
Join us for a walking tour Lexington's Gratz Park Historic District. The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops. You can pause the track while you walk between stops.
This tour covers a walking distance of 0.4 miles.
The music clips used in this tour are from “Walking Barefoot on Grass” by Kai Engel, and are used with a CCBY license. It is available here: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/
Join us for a walking tour Lexington's Gratz Park Historic District. The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops.
Join us for a walking tour of downtown Lexington's most notorious places! The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops. You can pause the track while you walk between stops.
Please Note: Some Listener's Discretion is advised.
This tour covers a walking distance of 1.43 miles.
The music clips used in this tour are from “Walking Barefoot on Grass” by Kai Engel, and are used with a CCBY license. It is available here.
Join us for a walking tour of downtown Lexington's most notorious places! The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops.
Together, we’ll enrich our Lexington Public Library for the next 230 years.
Tracing its history back to 1795, the Lexington Public Library is a gateway to knowledge, a bridge to opportunity, and a hub for community connection. The name of the society honors that legacy — when a small group of citizens came together to create something lasting for their community - a library positioned to evolve to meet the ever changing needs of our community.
Members of the 1795 Society are philanthropic leaders and dedicated library champions. Supporters make a three-year pledge of at least $1,000 per year - whether you are an individual donor interested in making an annual or monthly gift, you are making your estate plans, or you are a corporate partner looking to connect your organization to community impact, we invite you to join this legacy of connection, learning, and leadership in support of the public library!
Join the 1795 Society, a community who enable the Library’s critical work and build a legacy of learning, access and opportunity for generations to come.
Join us for a walking tour of Downtown Lexington’s historic LGBTQ+ places. The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops. You can pause the track while you walk between stops.
This tour covers a walking distance of 1.6 miles.
Join us for a walking tour of Downtown Lexington’s historic LGBTQ+ places. The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops.
Join us for a walking tour of Downtown Lexington’s historic sites. The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops. You can pause the track while you walk between stops.
This tour covers a walking distance of 1.1 miles.
The music clips used in this tour are from “Walking Barefoot on Grass” by Kai Engel, and are used with a CCBY license. It is available here: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/
Join us for a walking tour of Downtown Lexington’s historic sites. The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops.
Join us for a walking tour of Lexington’s literary history!
Tour Length 1.05 miles
The music clips used in this tour are from “Walking Barefoot on Grass” by Kai Engel, and are used with a CCBY license. It is available here.
Join us for a walking tour of Lexington’s literary history!
Tour Length 1.05 miles
Join us for a walking tour of Downtown Lexington’s public art. The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops. You can pause the track while you walk between stops.
This tour covers a walking distance of 1 mile.
The music clips used in this tour are from “Walking Barefoot on Grass” by Kai Engel, and are used with a CCBY license. It is available here: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/
This tour has been updated to include the new mural at Stop #5, "In-Finito".
Join us for a walking tour of Downtown Lexington’s public art. The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops.
Join us for a walking tour of Downtown Lexington’s African American Heritage Sites. The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops. You can pause the track while you walk between stops.
This tour covers a walking distance of 1.7 miles.
The music clips used in this tour are from “Walking Barefoot on Grass” by Kai Engel, and are used with a CCBY license. It is available here: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/
Join us for a walking tour of Downtown Lexington’s African American Heritage Sites. The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops.
Join us for a walking tour of Lexington Public Library's historic downtown locations! The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops. You can pause the track while you walk between stops.
This tour covers a walking distance of 1.1 miles.
Please note: We prioritized the ease of the walk rather than the chronological order of the library locations.
The music clips used in this tour are from “Walking Barefoot on Grass” by Kai Engel, and are used with a CCBY license. It is available here.
Join us for a walking tour of Lexington Public Library's historic downtown locations! The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops.
Join us for a walking tour of the places the Marquis de Lafayette visited in downtown Lexington in 1825!
Tour Length 1.76 miles
The music clips used in this tour are from “Walking Barefoot on Grass” by Kai Engel, and are used with a CCBY license. It is available here.
Join us for a walking tour of the places the Marquis de Lafayette visited in downtown Lexington in 1825!
Tour Length 1.76 miles
741.5 is written and designed by Lexington Public Library staff member Bill Widener. The inaugural issue came out in January 2017. Sub-titled The Comics & Graphic Novel Bulletin of the Lexington Public Library, its intent is to promote new arrivals to the Library's comics collections. 741.5 takes its name from the numeral designation within the Dewey Decimal System that covers comics and cartooning.
Search, view, and download digitized historical Lexington, KY Newspapers covering the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
Description coming soon.
Celebrate Black History Month at LPL
Throughout February, join us as we celebrate Black history with programs, materials, podcasts, and more.
The Eastside Branch Makerspace, located at 3000 Blake James Drive, is a collaborative workspace for ages 13 and up to make, learn , explore, and share, free of charge. Staff are available during open studio hours to assist in projects of all kinds, or contact Makerspace staff to schedule one-on-one help. Not sure where to start? The Eastside Makerspace also offers regular workshops that introduce participants to new skills, technology, and equipment. Planning to bring a group of 10 or more? Please contact us by calling 859-231-5500 ext.2207 or using the link below.
Sample projects
Engrave a welcome sign, 3D print a business card holder, laminate a sign for your classroom, print a banner for your next event, make a personalized magnet for your refrigerator, sew a quilt block, or cut a vinyl design for your water bottle.
Our commitment to listening, learning and changing is ongoing and our work is never complete. We affirm that we achieve more together because of our differences, not despite them. When all voices are heard, we are stronger.
Celebrate Lexington, Kentucky’s 250th anniversary this April with a full month dedicated to the history and heritage of music, poetry, and literature in and around Lexington with events hosted by the Lexington Public Library, the City of Lexington, 21c Museum and Hotel, the Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning, Institute 193, and the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center.
