Local History Room

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Local History Room

boat Welcome to the Local History Room of the Dayton Metro Library.

The Local History Room is the 'library's attic', full of fascinating information about the people and events that shaped the history of the Miami Valley. It is a research collection containing many materials, some of which are very rare, very fragile, and one-of-a-kind.

If you have any questions for the Local History Librarian concerning our local history collection including archives, special collections and rare book materials please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it !

(The photograph above is a 1898 view of Steele High School students boarding the canal boat 'Shamrock', near the old library, and heading for a picnic near Taylorsville.)

The variety of materials included are:

Books	Pamphlets
Newspapers	Maps
Photographs	Broadsides
Manuscript Collections	Newsletters
Diaries	Postcards
Scrapbooks	Local Family Histories
City Directories	Many other recources
Periodicals

Use the Pathfinder for Dayton History as a guide to basic Dayton history sources, or connect to our online catalog to search for our book holdings.

In addition, the library's Rare Book Collection is housed with the Local History Collection. It contains over 900 books on a variety of subjects. Works such as Paul Laurence Dunbar's Oak and Ivy and John James Audubon's Birds of America are housed here.

Hours and Services

Access to Dayton Collection materials is through the Local History Research Room on the lower level of the Main Library. The Main Library is located at 215 E. Third Street in downtown Dayton, Ohio. The Local History Research Room is open the same hours as the Main Library: Monday - Thursday, 9-9; Friday and Saturday, 9-5:30; and Sunday, 1-5 (from Labor Day until Memorial Day). The reference staff will assist you in locating the information and the sources that you will need. They will retrieve the materials from the closed stack area, and you may use these materials in the Local History Research Room with a valid library card or identification containing your current address. You may visit our library, write to us, or inquire to the Local History Librarian by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Collection materials do not circulate and they are not available through Inter Library Loan. An exception is the Lutzenberger Picture File and the Montgomery County Picture File negatives which circulate on-site, for reproduction. There are also duplicate copies of many of our sources in other collections in our library which do circulate. Extended study of this special collection is available by appointment with the Local History Librarian.

Photocopies

A special copier is available for making photocopies. This copier must be used with our materials because it reduces the damage to book spines that may be caused by flattening books on a conventional copier. Photocopying permission may be denied if the item to be copied is too fragile. Photocopying charges on-site are 10 cents per copy. When requesting photocopies by mail, the charge is 25 cents per page ($1.00 minimum) for copies sent to residents of Ohio, and 25 cents per page ($1.00 minimum) plus $1.00 for handling and mailing outside the state of Ohio..

Do you have any comments that you would like to make? This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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Hours and Services

Photocopies