Library moving local history from closed stacks to internet

County directories, local histories and postcard images of Kentucky are now available through the Lexington Public Library’s new Kentucky Room Digital Archives at Lexpublib.org/digital-archives. The initial material begins a move to make local history resources more widely available.

Among the inaugural items in the digital archives are:

▪ The 1040 Rural Directory of Fayette County

▪ 55 historic postcard images of Central Kentucky

▪ The 1896 illustrated program of the Woodland Park Kentucky Chautauqua Assembly

▪ A published transcript of Maude Ward Lafferty’s 1917 local history speech, “The Town Branch”

▪ The 1923 songbook, “Mountain Ballads for Social Singing”

▪ The 1892 and 1896 Annual Catalogue of Hamilton Female College

The items digitized are housed in closed stacks in the Central Library’s Kentucky Room and are available for viewing by request.

More items are expected to be digitized in the future, including photos, letters and memorabilia likely to be useful to local history researchers.

This story was originally published March 20, 2017 at 12:10 PM with the headline "Library moving local history from closed stacks to internet."