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Discover unique resources in our Digital Archives that tell the story of Fayette County. Visit cemeteries throughout Central Kentucky using our cemetery maps. Contact our resident experts in the Central Library's Kentucky Room with questions. The Lexington Public Library is a FamilySearch Affiliate Library.
Description coming soon.
The Kentucky Pioneer Genealogy and Records Magazine published various articles about early Kentucky history as a quarterly publication from 1979-1985, then annually 1986-1988.
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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.
Join us for a conversation with sports commentators Tom Hammond and Mark Story, authors of Races, Games, and Olympic Dreams: A Sportscaster's Life.
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.
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.
With your free library card, gain access to a diverse collection of print books, ebooks, audiobooks, online classes and databases, and more. You can apply for a traditional, wallet-sized card and key chain tag or a digital library card to add to your smartphone’s digital wallet (iOS and Android compatible).
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.
741.5 is written and designed by Lexington Public Library staff member Bill Widener. The inaugural issue came out in January 2017. Sub-titled The Comics & Graphic Novel Bulletin of the Lexington Public Library, its intent is to promote new arrivals to the Library's comics collections. 741.5 takes its name from the numeral designation within the Dewey Decimal System that covers comics and cartooning.
Discover everything that's happening this summer at the Library!
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.
Search for obituaries and death notices from newspapers around the country.
Library meeting rooms are available for individuals, non-profit, for profit, study groups, and community organizations seeking to hold meetings, trainings, and workshops. Meeting rooms are free of charge. Sterno and other tools/equipment that have an open flame are prohibited.
Meet with a librarian for one-on-one consultation. Please submit the Book a Librarian Appointment Request Form or call 859-231-5500 during business hours to schedule an appointment. Appointments are scheduled Monday-Friday during Library business hours and typically last 30 to 45 minutes.
For September, the Blue Grass True Crime Book Club is reading Cemetery Road Murders: The Shocking True Tale of Kentucky’s Murder Mansion by Wes Swietek.
Welcome to the Lexington Tree Week Book Swap! Join us for a fun Tree Week event where book lovers come together to trade books. Bring your gently used books and swap them for new literary treasures. Fiction, non-fiction and kids books--anything that celebrates or explores trees and nature is welcome! Let's promote reading and sustainability by giving books a new life.
In "Herrington Lake—Kentucky’s Marvel of Architecture, Waterpower & Nature," author Mike Holdren provides a detailed look at the creation of the Dix Dam as well as the surrounding bridges, camps, villages, and activities that have made Herrington Lake a wonderful recreational destination for 100 years.
