Mercer County Public Library

🏢 Mercer County Public Library · Harrodsburg, Kentucky

Mercer County Public Library

The Mercer County Public Library has served Harrodsburg — Kentucky's oldest settlement — since the community founded a subscription library in 1824. Housed at 109 W. Lexington Street since 1976, the library expanded in 2011 to add a Makerspace, study rooms, a reading garden, and a genealogy room. Its separate History Research Center, opened in 2023, preserves thousands of photographs, letters, and newspapers about Mercer County's past.

👋 Use the Library Online

📖 About Mercer County Public Library

Library service in Harrodsburg stretches back to 1802, when a local resident wrote to President Thomas Jefferson asking which books he thought best for the community. The town founded a subscription library in 1824, and in 1895 Magoffin Hardin and his wife Jennie partnered with the Harrodsburg Women's Club and the city council to open the first true public library in the basement of the old courthouse. After stops on West Poplar Street (1907) and Morgan Row (1965), the library relocated in 1976 to West Lexington Street, where it now operates as the Mercer County Public Library. A 2011 expansion added a Makerspace with craft and fabrication equipment, two study rooms, a reading garden, a fireplace reading room, and a dedicated genealogy room. In 2023 the library opened a History Research Center at 114 N. Main Street — a digitization lab and archive holding thousands of photographs, letters, newspapers, and books related to Mercer County history.

⭐ What makes this library special

• Community library roots stretching to 1802 — residents wrote to Thomas Jefferson for book recommendations before Harrodsburg founded its subscription library in 1824
• 2011 expansion added a Makerspace with craft and fabrication tools, two study rooms, a fireplace reading room, and a dedicated genealogy room
• History Research Center (opened 2023, 114 N. Main St.) houses thousands of Mercer County photographs, letters, newspapers, and an in-house digitization lab
• Bookmobile service extends the collection to readers throughout Mercer County who cannot visit the main branch
• Extended evening hours on Tuesday and Thursday until 7:30 p.m., and open all day Saturday 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

📱 Digital Resources — Free with Your Library Card

Mercer County cardholders can read, stream, and research free through these digital platforms:

📍 Nearby Libraries in Central Kentucky

Distances are approximate straight-line miles from this library.

All libraries in Harrodsburg  ·  Browse all Kentucky libraries →

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

📜 This library has genealogy & local-history resources. See how library family-history research works and find other libraries with genealogy collections genealogy libraries by state.

🔨 This library has a makerspace / 3D printing. See how library makerspaces and 3D printing work and find other libraries with a makerspace makerspaces by state.

📚 This library has study rooms. See how library study rooms work — booking, time limits and quiet vs group rooms — and find other libraries with study rooms libraries with study rooms by state.

🖨 This library offers printing, copying & fax. See how library printing, copying, scanning and fax services work — costs and mobile printing — and find other libraries that offer them printing & fax by state.

📅 This library has meeting & community rooms. See how library meeting rooms work — booking, policies and fees — and find other libraries with meeting or community rooms meeting rooms by state.

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✓ Hours & details last verified from official sources in September 2026.