About the Library
Welcome to Lexington Public Library
— President Franklin D. Roosevelt
The Lexington Public Library serves a merged city-county jurisdiction of 300,000+ people through a central library, 5 neighborhood branches, an active Outreach department, and rapidly expanding virtual services.
Lexington Public Library is ready to welcome you!
The Vision
A community engaged in a lifetime of discovery
The Mission
Lexington Public Library connects people, inspires ideas, and transforms lives.
The Values
Excellence: We don’t just help you. We make your day better.
Equality: We treat you with fairness and respect.
Integrity: We work to earn your trust and honor our heritage.
Stewardship: We care for the library that you entrust to us.
Passion: We love Lexington, we love what we do, and want you to know it.
Lexington Public Library’s Vision for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
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.
Diversity
We celebrate the rich variety that makes up our dynamic community, and seek to involve and reflect all of it through our collections, programming, staffing and spaces. We call for unity and honest effort in building a sustainable, inclusive culture and accessible spaces that better represent and serve our full community. We will identify and remove barriers in our policies and training that impede diversity. We will work to create a culture that welcomes, respects and responds to the differences among us.
Those differences, which may be visible or invisible, include our physical and mental characteristics and abilities. They include our race, ethnicity, language of origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, religion, political views and age. They include whether we are housed, housing insecure or unhoused. They include our education, socioeconomic factors, whether we are immigrants, whether we are caregivers, and more. We affirm that we achieve more together because of our differences, not despite them.
Equity
The Lexington Public library is committed to aligning our policies, practices and resources to benefit all community members. We recognize and value the unique needs and attributes of each member of the community. We strive to use open communication to increase understanding and to eliminate biases. We commit to equity being present in our decision-making by utilizing structures of accountability and assessment. Our commitment to listening, learning and changing is ongoing and our work is never complete.
Inclusion
We will actively seek to remove barriers to access for all who use the library. We commit to hiring and fostering the careers of a diverse work force so that our community is well represented throughout our institution. We will develop collections, programs and partnerships that responsibly represent all differences. We seek to welcome marginalized groups into our institutions both as customers and co-workers. When all voices are heard, we are stronger.
