Lexington Public Library

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Marksbury Family Branch - Classroom

Beginning English classes are held twice weekly to help participants improve English language reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.  Classes are held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Classes and class materials are free to everyone. Participants can practice their new skills at any of our ESOL conversation group meetings. Questions: Email abell@lexpublib.org.

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Marksbury Family Branch - Classroom

Beginning English classes are held twice weekly to help participants improve English language reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.  Classes are held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Classes and class materials are free to everyone. Participants can practice their new skills at any of our ESOL conversation group meetings. Questions: Email abell@lexpublib.org.

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Marksbury Family Branch - Classroom

Beginning English classes are held twice weekly to help participants improve English language reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.  Classes are held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Classes and class materials are free to everyone. Participants can practice their new skills at any of our ESOL conversation group meetings. Questions: Email abell@lexpublib.org.

-
Marksbury Family Branch - Classroom

Beginning English classes are held twice weekly to help participants improve English language reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.  Classes are held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Classes and class materials are free to everyone. Participants can practice their new skills at any of our ESOL conversation group meetings. Questions: Email abell@lexpublib.org.

-
Marksbury Family Branch - Classroom

Beginning English classes are held twice weekly to help participants improve English language reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.  Classes are held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Classes and class materials are free to everyone. Participants can practice their new skills at any of our ESOL conversation group meetings. Questions: Email abell@lexpublib.org.

-
Marksbury Family Branch - Classroom

Beginning English classes are held twice weekly to help participants improve English language reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.  Classes are held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Classes and class materials are free to everyone. Participants can practice their new skills at any of our ESOL conversation group meetings. Questions: Email abell@lexpublib.org.

Celebrate Black History Month at LPL

Throughout February, join us as we celebrate Black history with programs, materials, podcasts, and more.

Webform

Do you love to read? Would you like to recommend some books for other readers? This opportunity is for you!

Primary Page

All databases are available from this page.

Highlight

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.

Highlight

Discover free events, books, and resources exploring Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating when the Emancipation Proclamation reached enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, in 1865. 

Please note that all locations will be closed on June 19 in observance. 

Engraver size varies by location. Cut wood or engrave on wood, metal, stone, leather, glass and more. 

The Eastside Makerspace machine can hold items up to 19.6 x 12.5 x 5 inches. The Marksbury Family Branch Makerspace machine can hold smaller items like coasters and keychains up to 4.53 x 4.53 inches. Some items are available to purchase in the space, including keychains, business cards, coasters, and bookmarks.

Visit the following learning spaces to get started.

Webform

Do you love to read? Would you like to recommend some books for other readers? This opportunity is for you!

Make buttons and magnets using equipment and supplies available in the Makerspace.

The Eastside Makerspace offers 1.25” and 2.25” button makers for buttons and magnets. The Marksbury Family Branch Makerspace offers 2.25” button makers for buttons and magnets and 1” button makers for keychains, earrings, and paperclip bookmarks. Button, magnet keychain, earring, and bookmark materials are available to purchase.

Visit the following learning spaces to get started.

Button maker

Use a variety of heat presses to transfer your original designs on to personal items.

The Marksbury Family Branch Makerspace has an automated heat press, large and small handheld presses, sublimation printer, and Cricut machines. The Eastside Makerspace has a small handheld press, automated heat press, and Cricut machines. Please supply your own personal items to transfer on to. Sublimation paper and heat transfer vinyl are available for purchase, or you can use your own free of charge. Speak with a staff member before bringing or using your own materials.

Visit the following learning spaces to get started.

Heat press

Print your large-format designs on paper and vinyl. Printer size varies by location.

The Eastside Makerspace’s 24” printer is compatible with paper, photo paper, and banner vinyl. The Marksbury Family Branch Makerspace’s 20” printer with an 18.5" printable space is compatible with photo paper, sticker paper, banner vinyl, and heat transfer vinyl. Paper and vinyl are available for purchase and are priced per linear foot.  

Visit the following learning spaces to get started.

The William Stamps Farish Fund Theater is a state-of-the-art facility in one of Main Street’s busiest places.

Fully renovated and updated, the theater on the Central Library’s first floor is home to theater, dance, live music, film, community events, and meetings. The Lexington Public Library makes the facility available at some of the city’s best prices, with affordable business, nonprofit, and government rates.

Walking Tour

Join us for a walking tour of Downtown Lexington’s historic LGBTQ+ 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.

This tour covers a walking distance of 1.6 miles.

Join us for a walking tour of Downtown Lexington’s historic LGBTQ+ 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.

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

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,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

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 …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

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.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Friends of the Lexington Public Library provides financial, advocacy and volunteer support to the Library.  Shop at the Friends Book Cellar in the Central Library for a great selection of used books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, audiobooks, and vinyl records, all at discounted prices.

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news, though some local announcements can be found. Later, the paper focused on disseminating opinions on politics and issues of concern on the frontier. When political parties emerged, the paper developed a Democratic (conservative at the time) bent. John Bradford handed the reins of the paper over to his son, Daniel Bradford, in 1802.

While still owned and occasionally edited by the Bradford family, the paper had several editors and publishers through the mid-1830s, when Daniel Bradford returned to the paper’s byline as editor. Daniel Bradford edited the paper until 1840, when he sold it to Jim Cunningham. The paper shuttered in 1848, due to Cunningham’s failing health, but was revived in 1866 and published until 1910 by different publishers.

The years 1841-1910 are not digitized as of January 2020, but are viewable on microfilm and in print in the Kentucky Room at Central Library. Selected articles are indexed in the Library’s Local History Index.

 

The Kentucky Room’s collection of The Kentucky Gazette is not complete. Here is a list of what is missing from the digitized collection:

 

1788: April 5, May 31, September 20

1789: All of May

1790: August 9 – November 27, December 27

1791: April 2, July 30, All of August, September 3, 10, 24, October 1

1792: April 2, September 15 - November 17

1793: May 4, June 15, July 20

1794: May 24, June 21, August 9 – September 13

1795: March 21, August 29, September 5, 12, 26, October 17

1807: Entire Year

1808: Entire Year

1821: January 26, February 1, 9, 16, March 29, April 5, May 3, 17, 24, 31, All of June, July 5, 19, August 9, 23, 30, September 20, October 18-December 27

1822: Entire Year

1823: Entire Year

1824: Entire Year

1827: Entire Year

1828: Entire Year

1829: Entire Year

1830: Entire Year

1831: Entire Year

1832: Entire Year

1833: Entire Year

1834: Entire Year

Collection Format
Collection Topics

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

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,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

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 …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

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.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…