The Community Collections consist of objects shared from local community residents and organizations. Individuals have lent items of local significance to the library to give the larger community awareness and access. The original objects are not owned by the Lexington Public Library.
Submissions for the Community Collections are open. If you are an individual or organization interested in possibly lending items to be digitized by the library, please contact elibrarian@lexpublib.org. We consider item age, location, content, relevance, privacy considerations, and item condition when determining items to add. Content donors must be the legal copyright holders if the item is not in the public domain.
The Take Back Cheapside Collection is a community collection from DeBraun Thomas. The featured postcard of the historic Fayette County Courthouse at was used as a part of the Take Back Cheapside movement in Lexington in 2017.
The collection contains materials from the Imperial Court of Kentucky. Courts are autonomous organizations bound together in a shared structure, policies, and goals, fundraising for HIV/AIDS services, human rights advocacy, and other LBGTQ+ stakeholders.
The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from Lexington history. The contents include objects from African-American students from local schools in the 1930s and 1950s.
The collection for the local chapter of the League of Women Voters (LWV) includes membership rolls, photos, and historical objects from its 100-year history.
The Milam Diary Collection contains the World War II diary of David Franklin "Frank" Milam, who seved aboard the USS Yorktown in 1944-1945 in the Pacific Theater.
The two collections in Bath County’s Community Collection are primary sources from Bath County residents. The Gilmore diary collection spans 1944-1955 and is written by Etta Evans Gilmore, and the Young WWII letter collection by Sgt. Johnston A. Young.
The small collection consists of an image, brochures, homemade posters, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville.
The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.
