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The Undesign the Redline project unearths the deep and systemic history of structural racism and inequality in the United States. This interactive exhibit explores policies like Redlining, their implications for today, and what we can do to undesign them.
The exhibit was created by social impact design studio designing the WE and has been invited to dozens of cities across the country. A local advisory group has helped to produce local history and stories about Redlining in Lexington.
Description coming soon.
Do you want to make change in local government? It may be easier than you think! This workshop will help you understand the best practices for advocating for an issue in local government. You’ll learn about the
individuals and entities that make critical decisions, how to engage with them, and how to best shape your arguments.
Length: 75 minutes
Join us for a conversation with sports commentators Tom Hammond and Mark Story, authors of Races, Games, and Olympic Dreams: A Sportscaster's Life.
This is your gateway to our most popular resources. Search for books and eBooks, access tools for research and learning, and discover our unique collection of genealogy and local history materials.
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.
By using a Library-owned public computer, or by connecting your personally-owned computer or device to the LPL network, you agree to adhere to this policy. Violation of any part of this policy may result in termination of the customer’s session, with the possible loss of computer or library privileges for flagrant or repeated violation(s) at the Library's sole and exclusive discretion. Illegal acts may also be subject to prosecution by local, state, and/or federal authorities.
Stories of Lexington's history told through the Kentucky Room archives.
These tours are guided audio walking tours with a variety of topics focused on Downtown Lexington, KY. Music will play in between each stop, and the listener can pause the track while walking between stops.
Want to learn about new tours as they become available? Subscribe to our Genealogy & Local History newsletter.


Throughout June, join us as we celebrate Pride Month with programs, books, podcasts, and more.
Read articles from magazines and journals, learn a new language, or locate a newspaper article. These resources can't be found with a search engine but are available for free with your library card.
All databases are available from this page.
Join the Lexington Public Library's Kentucky Room staff for a day of genealogy and local history.
Genealogists and historians Pam Brinegar, Mike Denis, and Amanda Higgins will present on different topics of interest.
Free. Registration required.
This beginner workshop is all about the who, what, and why of local government. We’ll help you understand how Lexington’s local government is structured, who is in charge of what, and how legislation gets made. The workshop includes an interactive activity to learn more about the people behind local government.
Join us for a walking tour of Lexington’s literary history!
Tour Length 1.05 miles
The music clips used in this tour are from “Walking Barefoot on Grass” by Kai Engel, and are used with a CCBY license. It is available here.
Discover everything that's happening this summer at the Library!

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.
Join us for a walking tour of downtown Lexington's most notorious places! The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops. You can pause the track while you walk between stops.
Please Note: Some Listener's Discretion is advised.
This tour covers a walking distance of 1.43 miles.
The music clips used in this tour are from “Walking Barefoot on Grass” by Kai Engel, and are used with a CCBY license. It is available here.
Celebrate Lexington, Kentucky’s 250th anniversary all year long. Join us for programs, galleries, podcasts, and more highlighting our city’s history, heritage, and legacy.
Nic Stone is a bestselling author and an outspoken racial and social justice advocate. Stone burst onto the scene with her #1 New York Times bestselling debut novel, Dear Martin, which chronicles the story of a seventeen-year-old Black high school senior, Justyce McAllister, after a bloody run-in with the police places him squarely in the crosshairs of media fallout.
Nic Stone is a bestselling author and an outspoken racial and social justice advocate. Stone burst onto the scene with her #1 New York Times bestselling debut novel, Dear Martin, which chronicles the story of a seventeen-year-old Black high school senior, Justyce McAllister, after a bloody run-in with the police places him squarely in the crosshairs of media fallout.