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The William Stamps Farish Fund Theater is a state-of-the-art facility in one of Main Street’s busiest places.
Fully renovated and updated, the theater on the Central Library’s first floor is home to theater, dance, live music, film, community events, and meetings. The Lexington Public Library makes the facility available at some of the city’s best prices, with affordable business, nonprofit, and government rates.
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.
Classical Music Sundays presents live classical music the third Sunday of every month, September through May, with EKU music professor Bernardo Scarambone as emcee.
This month features the Morehead State University Mountain Music Ambassadors. Live bluegrass music the third Thursday of every month, October through April. Sponsored by Southland Jamboree.
A documentary presentation followed by an interview with retired coal miners Anita Cherry and Diana Baldwin. Art by Ralph Carr Sr. inspired by coal country on exhibit before and after.
Live jazz the second Thursday of every month. Reservations suggested.
Join us in the Farish Theater for a conversation with Wes Browne, author of They All Fall the Same and Hillbilly Hustle. The event will also feature an audience Q&A and a book signing. Books will be available for purchase. Registration is recommended but not required.
This month features Hammertowne. Live bluegrass music the third Thursday of every month, October through April. Sponsored by Southland Jamboree.
This month features the Eastern Kentucky University Trombone Society, directed by Nathan Siler.
This month features Todd Hildreth on piano, Tim Whalen on tenor saxophone, Dave Clark on alto saxophone, Chris Fitzgerald on bass, and Mike Hyman on drums. Live jazz the second Thursday of every month.
When the first Shakers arrived in Kentucky, they built their village at Pleasant Hill on the western frontier, where they lived a privileged, communal life as educated artisans with their "hands to work and hearts to God."
Monday-Thursday: 9:30am-7:00pm
Friday: 9:30am-6:00pm
Saturday: 9:30am-5:00pm
Sunday: 1:00pm-5:00pm
140 East Main Street
Lexington, KY 40507
Everyone deserves a place to discover something new. The Lexington Public Library stands for free and open access to information. We’re a safe, welcoming space for neighbors to come together — opening the door so all Lexingtonians can find what they’re looking for.
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.
Hosted by Top Chef contender Chrissy Camba, The Grocery List Show is a trip to five bustling international grocery stores in America and the communities they serve. Special guests and food enthusiasts join Chrissy to shop for ingredients and cook a favorite family recipe, as they celebrate global food traditions over a shared meal.
The Haunting is a 1963 supernatural horror film based from Shirley Jackson's 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House.
Hill House has stood for 90 years and appears haunted. Its inhabitants have always met strange, tragic ends.
Now Dr. John Markway has assembled a team of people who he thinks will prove whether or not the house is haunted.
Rated G.
The Tallest Dwarf follows filmmaker Julie Wyman as she searches for her place in the little people community and unpacks dwarfism’s impact on her own family. Through intimate stories, creative collaborations, and archival history, the film delves into identity and medicine, asking whether society should change people or the structures that limit them.
Based on a true story.
Based on the novel by Alasdair Gray, Poor Things is a 2023 comedy/fantasy about Bella Baxter, a young woman in Victorian London who is brought back to life via brain transplant.
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and stars Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, and Jerrod Carmichael.
She's evil... and not just high school evil.
After being kidnapped and killed, popular cheerleader Jennifer returns from the dead to seek her retribution.
Starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer's Body is a 2009 horror comedy about the trials of friendship.
Rated R.
What does it take to escape your destiny? Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their Mississippi hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
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Schools and Yearbooks Collection
All Digital Archives Collections
Etta Evans Gilmore was born in Fleming County, Kentucky, on February 4, 1885, to Robert Evans and Matilda Fawns. She married Henry Steele Gilmore, a Bath County physician, around 1906. Their son Robert was born in 1906 and daughter…
This collection consists of Black community news published under the headline “Colored Churches,” “In Colored Circles,” or “Colored Notes”; and other articles of social interest, including marriages, public events, and obituaries.
The item contains the history of Mount Horeb Presbyterian Church, photos and biographies of ministers and founding members, and a list of member names from 1827-1952.
Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices cover the years 1806-1886. Jones…
The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from late 1847 through early 1849 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It is described by William Perrin in his 1882 History of Fayette…
The 1906-07 Lexington cross directory contains residential and business information for the city, arranged both alphabetically and by street, with a business listing by category. It also contains city officials and departments, and…
This collection of letters to and from portrait artist Sudduth Goff (1887-1965) is part of the library's Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection.
The Elmer L. Foote Collection is a group of 190 lantern slides. They were created by Elmer L. Foote, a Cincinnati photographer and library staff member whose pictures appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune.
The item is a history of the theater in Lexington from 1799 to 1850, including names of theaters, actors, personnel, and plays.
Letters to and from Father William T. Punch (1874-1933). Father Punch was instrumental in building the 3rd St. Peter Catholic Church on Barr Street in Lexington, KY.
The item is a brief report on methods to revitalize the Lexington commercial district through the preservation of architecturally and historically significant structures. It includes case studies on the Keiza Barton residence, Giron’s…
This half of the record book contains burial records for St. Paul Catholic Church parishioners.
Program features the activities and accomplishments of the previous year’s Empress and Emperor while providing the layout of the current year’s coronation proceedings. Features advertisements for local businesses and photographs of the…
This letter collection was collected by Judge Kenneth Lyons. The earliest date of the letters is 1862, from Bourbon and Nicholas Counties, Kentucky. Some letters are fragments.
The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in establishing the Hindman (Kentucky)…
This issue contains information about Kentucky highways, colleges, and agriculture. It also features articles on Bardstown and the song “My Old Kentucky Home” by Stephen Collins Foster.
The item is a promotional pamphlet containing brief descriptions of various Lexington tourist locations.
The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture, manufactures and fine stock”, as well as literary and…
The Kentucky Leader was published from 1888 until the name changed in 1895 to the Daily Leader. They focused on local and national news. The Daily Leader was published from 1895-1901 until the name was changed to the Lexington Leader.…
Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.
This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house.
The Eastern Kentucky Review contains articles about Eastern Kentucky State Teachers College. This particular issue contains photos of buildings, graduating seniors, students, clubs, and activities, and includes photos and information…
The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1895, 1896, 1897 and 1898.
The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming publication. The first issue was printed March 29, 1803. The paper was later sold to Robert Kay…
The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news, though some local announcements can be found. Later, the paper focused on…
The Kentucky Reporter is the weekly continuation of The Reporter, which changed names in October 1817. It reports on local and national news. 1827 is the only semi-weekly run of this newspaper.
The Reporter was a weekly Republican paper, occasionally semi-weekly when Congress was in session. Continued publication throughout the War of 1812.
The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an article deemed so incendiary that at court injunction was issued…
The item is a yearbook for the United States Army Training Center at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and contains photographs of the officers, NCOs, and graduates of the 8 week basic combat training. There are also many photographs of the various…
This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated into English by an anonymous translator…
