If it is in print and tells us about life in Kentucky, look for it in the Kentucky Library. Here you will find books about Kentucky and the University Library’s rare book collection. Non-book materials include magazines, maps, sheet music, broadsides, photographs, postcards, political memorabilia, newspapers, scrapbooks, phonograph records and ephemera. We would not be surprised if "ephemera" is new to your vocabulary, it is a catch-all term for items most folks throw away, but that we keep due to their historic value.

Genealogists, we have been clipping newspapers for over 50 years for our county files and biography files. Genealogists (both professional and amateur) have added family charts to our surname files as they used the materials we have gathered. We have census records, cemetery books, family histories, family Bible records, and much more. No southcentral Kentucky family search is complete without a trip to the Kentucky Library. Need an obituary printed in an area newspaper?

Please allow time for your research as Kentucky Library & Museum holdings do not circulate. Please refer to the Harrison-Baird Reading Room policies for additional useful information concerning your visit.

Explore the descriptions of our in-house collections and then plan your visit.