The Research Collections comprise a unique research center of primary sources for both the university community and general public users. Originally called the "Kentucky Library" with a mission to collect "all things Kentucky," the collection quickly grew to encompass the world. We house rare books, photographs, sheet music, rare periodicals, and specialized research collections in diverse languages or formats dating from the 15th century to today.
Our holdings are unique artifacts of local, national and international importance. Current collection holdings include more than 75,000 books and periodicals, thousands of unique extant examples of ephemera, music and political memorabilia, and an ever growing number of photographs, images, and sound / video recordings. Our materials can be accessed through the One-Search Box, TOPCAT, TopSCHOLAR®, KenCat, and in-house paper finding aids.
Submissions from 1897
Break the News to Mother (SM04397), Kentucky Library Research Collection
Sanitation of Drinking Water, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1894
General Laws for the Government of the Town of Horse Cave, Hart County, KY, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Liberty College, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Picturesque Bowling Green, Warren County, Ky., Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1893
Kentucky County Maps, 1893 (S65 .A2), Kentucky Library Research Collection
Submissions from 1892
Report of the Superintendent Public Instruction of the State of Kentucky, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1890
Proceedings of the Monroe County Teacher's Institute, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1888
Bethel College, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Singer Sewing Machine Manual, Kentucky LIbrary Research Collections
Submissions from 1887
Summer Shade Institute, Kentucky Library Research Collections
The South Western Medical Gazette A Monthly Journal of Medicine and Surgery, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Thrilling Narrative of the Escape of Gen. John H. Morgan From The Ohio Penitentiary, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1886
Bowling Green Gaines & Collier's City and Business Directory, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Kentucky Genealogy and Biography: Allen County, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1885
Woolsey Family Bible, Kentucky Library Research Collections
13th Annual Register and Announcement Logan Female College, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1879
Bowling Green and the Twelfth Kentucky Press Association, Kentucky LIbrary Research Collections
Submissions from 1877
Map of Warren County, KY, Kentucky Library Research Collections
D.G. Beers Map of Warren County, Kentucky, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Warren County, Kentucky Abstracted Burial Permits, 1877-1913, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1876
American Medical Weekly (Vol. IV, no. 1), Kentucky Library Research Collections
Gardner & Gaines Business Directory of Bowling Green, Hopkinsville, Russellville, Clarksville, Woodburn, Franklin, Gallatin & Glasgow, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1875
Scottville Argus (Scottsville, Kentucky), Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1873
Warren County Marriage Books C - P 1853 - ca. 1872, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1869
Kentucky State Colored Educational Convention, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1868
Minutes of the City of Bowling Green, Kentucky, 1850-1868 (Part 3)., Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1866
A Sketch of the Skiles, the Underwoods, the McElroys, etc., Written for the Louisville Times, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Speech of Hon. Green Clay Smith, of Kentucky, on Reconstruction, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1865
Record of Slaves in Warren County, KY, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1863
War Eagle, Kentucky Library Research Collections
War Eagle, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1862
Bowling Green, KY Rebel Fortifications, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Civil War Map of Bowling Green, KY 1862, Kentucky Library Research Collections
The Great Panic: Being Incidents Connected with Two Weeks of the War in Tennessee, 1862, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1858
Columbia Male and Female High School Triennial Catalogue, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1856
Minutes of the City of Bowling Green, Kentucky, 1850-1868 (Part 2), Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1855
Blakey Scrapbook with Obituary Information, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1852
The South African Church Magazine and Ecclesiastical Review, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1850
Memorandum of the Family History of the House of Hay, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Minutes of the City of Bowling Green, Kentucky, 1850-1868 (Part 1), Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1849
Divorces Granted by the Legislature and Courts in Kentucky, 1792-1849, Kentucky Library Research Collections
William Grounds Family Bible, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1848
An Essay on the Culture and Manufacture of Silk, Kentucky Library Research Collections
History Of The Mexican War; Or Facts For The People: Showing The Relation Of The United States Government To Slavery, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1835
Notes on the Mammoth Cave, To Accompany A Map, Edmund Lee
An Address Delivered To The Colonization Society of Kentucky, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Choctaw Academy, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1834
On the mode of collecting and preserving objects of natural history with a view to the formation of a cabinet, or to their transportation, Kentucky Library Research Collections
Submissions from 1810
Remarkable occurrences lately discovered among the people called Shakers;: Of a treasonous and barbarous nature, or Shakerism developed, Kentucky Library Research Collections