Tales from the Kentucky Room
Listen to stories of Lexington’s history told through the Kentucky Room archives.
Listen to stories of Lexington’s history told through the Kentucky Room archives.
Attend a public event at the Farish or reserve the fully equipped theater for a private event of your own.
We believe in free and equal access to information. That's why everyone can access education and entertainment resources and technology without worrying about overdue fines.
Choose from a variety of book clubs for different ages and interests or join us for a readers and writers event.
Schedule a one-on-one consultation to learn library skills, get help with research and job searches, have a test proctored by one of our librarians, and more.
The Fayette County Images contains photographs of Lexington and Fayette County Kentucky.
The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J.
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The Lexington Public Library encourages visits by children, and wishes to make these visits both memorable and enjoyable. The Library recognizes that children have special needs. This policy emphasizes the fact that ultimate responsibility for children’s health, safety, and behavior in the Library’s environment resides with the parent or guardian.
The Lexington Public Library’s Digital Archives provide open access to researchers and students to learn more about the rich history of Lexington and Fayette County. It contains a fraction of the Library’s physical holdings, which are housed and available for reference in the Kentucky Room at the Central Library. New material is being digitized and added constantly, so there's always something new to find.
The archives have a simple keyword search, and it is possible to browse the collections by subject, area, or decade. The Lexington Public Library actively reviews and labels materials in our archives with statements that indicate how you may reuse the images, and what sort of permission, if any, you need to do so. Please check the information for each image to determine its legal status.
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Friday: 9:30am-6:00pm
Saturday: 9:30am-5:00pm
Sunday: 1:00pm-5:00pm
140 East Main Street
Lexington, KY 40507
The Kentucky History collection contains Kentucky-related documents not specifically related to Fayette County.
Fayette County, Kentucky, has changed enormously since it was created in 1792. This collection contains government documents for the city of Lexington, for Fayette County, and for the merged Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, as well as funeral notices, club directories, scrapbooks, image collections and a history of Lexington Public Library.
The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks, school directories, and organizational directories. These are all fully word-searchable.
The Kentucky Images collection contains postcards, photographs and slides of people, architecture, and locations in Kentucky and Appalachia.
The Publications Collection contains runs of historical Kentucky newspapers, almanacs, and magazines.
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.
The Hamilton Female College catalogs list the school’s Board of Trustees, faculty, alumnae, graduates that year, directory of students, courses of study, and the members of each department.
Mountain Ballads for Social Singing contains 15 songs selected for the Vesper Hour gatherings at Berea College.
Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune during the early years of the twentieth century.
The Kentucky Chautauqua Assembly presented an annual event in Lexington’s Woodland Park with days of programming. Presentations varied from live music and entertainment to lectures and speeches from national figures.
The Kentucky Postcard collection contains images of well-known sites in Central Kentucky, such as Keeneland, Transylvania University, Ashland, and many others.
In 1917, the Woman’s Club of Central Kentucky hosted a series of speakers giving historical sketches on people and places of local interest.
The Kentucky Room's collections contain Lexington's residential directories going back over 200 years, and are some of the most useful resources for researchers looking for family information, neighborhood histories, and house histories.