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Kentucky Room

The Kentucky Room, part of the Reference Department on the third floor of the Central Library, contains a wealth of information about Kentucky and Fayette County. The collection features an excellent group of general interest books on all aspects of Kentucky, subject files on Kentucky and Lexington, county histories, family histories, local newspapers, maps, and state and local government documents.

Local History Index Local History Index
Kentucky Room Resources Kentucky Room Resources
Digital Collections Digital Collections
Genealogy Resources Genealogy Resources
Links & Databases Genealogy/History Links & Databases Genealogy/History

Genealogy and Local History by Mail and/or E-Mail

The Kentucky Room reference staff will answer requests for information through the mail or through e-mail. However, the staff cannot undertake extensive research or photocopying projects. You may request up to four separate articles, death certificates, etc.

Library staff can respond to only the most specific requests. We cannot compile lineages, determine parentage, locate missing persons, or undertake extensive copying projects from books or microfilm. We will provide a free copy of a list of private researchers who can undertake more extensive research on a fee basis.

Please remember the following about the Kentucky Room collection when using the Kentucky Room genealogy and local history email service. The collection is strongest in Fayette County materials. It does not include out-of-town newspapers or microfilmed county records for counties other than Fayette. The largest libraries for genealogy research are located in Frankfort at the Kentucky Historical Society and the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives.

Examples of appropriate requests:

  • Please search for an obituary for my uncle Robert Mitchell who died on April 17, 1945.
  • Please search for a cemetery record for my great-grandmother Eliza Mitchell who is buried in Fayette County (date of death is helpful).
  • Please check the 1925 city directory for people by the name of Rodes.
  • Pleases check Perrin’s History of Fayette County for biographical information on James Wright.
  • Please search for the death certificate for Benjamin Whitaker who died in Kentucky on October 1, 1926.

Examples of research requests we cannot handle:

  • Please send me everything you have on the Jackson family in Kentucky.
  • Please copy all the obituaries in your newspaper for the names Allen, Bowman, and Reed.
  • Please copy all Kentucky census records for the Davis families.
  • Please send me lists of Kentucky death certificates.

If you have an exact citation from the Local History Index, you may submit your request using the Document Delivery form. (Charges are the same for either type of request.)

The Lexington Public Library’s charges for mail/e-mail reference requests are:

  • 25 Cents per page for photocopies
  • 25 Cents per page for microfilm reader-printer copies
  • $5.00 Research fee for up to 4 individual citations (maximum or 20 pages of print)
  • If you send your request in the mail, please do NOT send money with your request. Staff will bill you for the correct amount.

Mail reference requests must be made in writing and may be directed to:

Kentucky Room Librarian
Lexington Public Library
140 East Main Street
Lexington, Kentucky 40507

Your email request must include your complete name, mailing address and email address. Email requests do not receive preference and will be handled in sequence with requests received via regular mail. Thank you for your cooperation.

Kentucky Room E-Mail Request

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WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs, the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyright material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purpose in excess of "fair use" that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

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