Buy Tickets
The keeneland Library
Preserving & Sharing Racing's Rich History
Established in 1939, the Keeneland Library is a reference and research library and the world’s largest repository of the Thoroughbred industry open to the public. The Library received the 2002 Special Eclipse Award for its contributions to the industry, and it is home to more than 30,000 books dating from the late 1500s, 5 million photographic negatives and prints dating from the late 1800s, and millions of newspaper and magazine articles about all aspects of the industry from the early 1700s to today.
Each year, the Library, located on Keeneland’s grounds and open to the public weekdays year-round, connects thousands of journalists, academics, racing fans, and industry stakeholders from all 50 states and more than 25 countries to information and image resources for their publications, broadcasts, exhibits, films, media guides, and websites.
The Library also preserves and shares its collections with its growing global patron base through targeted digitization projects, exhibits, educational programs for youth and adults, research workshops for equine industry students and the general public, and its Lecture Series that celebrates the published works of authors who conducted their research at the Library.
Learn more about Keeneland Library’s mission, strategic goals, and impacts in our 2024 Year-End Report, and keep informed of current Library happenings in our newsletters.
Become a Friend of Keeneland Library
Keeneland Library has freely connected thousands of researchers, racing fans of all ages, and industry stakeholders to our world-renowned collections for over 85 years.
Now reaching more than 10,000 global researchers each year and 80,000 youth and adults through free exhibits and educational programs in 2024, Keeneland is proud to honor the Library’s evolving impacts in Kentucky and beyond.
Help us preserve and share more by becoming a Friend of Keeneland Library.
The Racetracks of America
The first comprehensive chronicle of its kind, The Racetracks of America: From the Pre-Civil War Days to the 21st Century is an image-packed compendium of past and present U.S. racetracks with contributions by the sport's top writers. A priceless companion to fans of the sport, the book showcases the special places at the heart of the American racing experience.
A limited supply of the book released by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in partnership with Keeneland Library is available through the Keeneland Shop and at Keeneland Library. Keeneland Library invested hundreds of hours in this seminal book's research, writing, and image buildout. All proceeds from the books' sales at Keeneland will benefit the Keeneland Library Foundation.
Starting Gate Storytime
Join us for Starting Gate Storytime at Keeneland Library, where the horse is front and center in live readings of select children’s stories. Each book is paired with a literacy, art, history, industry awareness, or STEM activity, and Keeneland Kids Club’s favorite mascot Buckles will be on hand to brush up on his reading and spend time with young racing fans and horse lovers.
This series is ideal for learners ages 3 through 7. Starting Gate Storytime programs are free but book your spot soon, because these tickets are sure to move fast out of the starting gate!
Upcoming dates:
January 10 at 10:30 a.m.: Horses by Teesha Holladay
February 21 at 10:30 a.m.: Perfect Timing by Patsi B. Trollinger
March 21 at 10:30 a.m.: Pasture Bedtime by Jenny H. Lyman
May 16 at 10:30 a.m.: Be Like Hank by Tammi Jo Regan with a special visit by Hank the Horse
June 27 at 10:30 a.m.: Seabiscuit by Megan McCarthy
Library Lecture Series
Keeneland’s popular Library Lecture Series continues with public events that celebrate recently published works about Thoroughbred racing whose authors conduct research at Keeneland Library.
December 10: James C. Nicholson with Racing’s Return from the Brink: The Incredible Comeback of Old Rosebud and American Horse Racing in conversation with historian Katherine C. Mooney
Thank you to all our patrons who supported our 2024-2025 Lecture Series:
January 14, 2024: Kim Wickens – Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America’s Legendary Racehorse
February 21, 2024: Fred Kray – Broken
March 7, 2024: John Paul Miller – False Riches
May 9, 2024: Avalyn Hunter – The Kentucky Oaks: 150 Years of Running for the Lilies
July 24, 2024: Virginia Slachman - Betrayed in the Bluegrass
August 29, 2024: Josh Pons - Letters from Country Life: Adolphe Pons, Man o' War, and the Founding of Maryland's Oldest Thoroughbred Farm
September 24, 2024: Tom Hammond - Races, Games, and Olympic Dreams: A Sportscaster’s Life
January 22, 2025: Eliza McGraw - Astride: Horses, Women, and a Partnership That Shaped America
February 19, 2025: Stacy A. Cordery - Becoming Elizabeth Arden
March 19, 2025: Jessica K. Whitehead - The History of the Kentucky Derby in 75 Objects
May 21, 2025: Diane Crump & Mark Shrager - Diane Crump: A Horse-racing Pioneer’s Life in the Saddle
June 18, 2025: Celebrating 25 Years: An Evening with The Saratoga Special
July 16, 2025: Andy Plattner - Stymie
August 20, 2025: Catharine Melin-Moser - When Montana Outraced the East: The Rise of Western Thoroughbreds 1886-1900
Raíces: The Making of Latino Legacies in Racing
Opens October 1, 2025
Keeneland Library’s newest exhibit and education initiative, Raíces: The Making of Latino Legacies in Racing,showcases 100 groundbreaking Latino figures in the Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry from the late 1800s to today. The exhibit features biographical vignettes and never-before-displayed photographs and memorabilia of men and women in the sport from across the Americas to highlight the breadth and depth of their indelible marks on the industry’s past, present, and future. Raíces – or roots – are emblematic of their respective stories, individual and collective heritage, and legacies sowed and sustained at every level of the sport.
The Heart of the Turf: Racing’s Black Pioneers
This traveling exhibit highlights the lives and careers of 100 African American horsemen and women from the mid-1800s to today through exhibited interpretive panels, audio guide, exhibit companion book, and free educational programs for youth and adults.
The Collections
The Keeneland Library collections feature a wide array of information, ranging from photographs, newspaper clippings, historic and current periodicals, and nearly every significant book written about the Thoroughbred and racing and breeding. The Library’s book collections span a broad range of topics, including sales and racing, equine science and art, biographies, the history of the horse in culture, racing history, memoirs, equine law and economics, theories about handicapping and breeding, and even fiction, photography and poetry.
Past Exhibits
View select previous exhibits displayed at the Library.
Life's Work
Keeneland is dedicated to sharing and preserving the stories of the horsemen and horsewomen at the heart of the Thoroughbred industry through the Life's Work project.
Keeneland Library Foundation
In 2014, Keeneland formed the Keeneland Library Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to support unique Keeneland Library projects that preserve and share the Thoroughbred industry’s past and present with an eye to the future. The Keeneland Library Foundation’s mission is to broaden Keeneland Library’s access and outreach initiatives through educational programs for youth and adults, exhibits, and targeted digitization and preservation projects of its one-of-a-kind, world-class collections.
The Online Catalog
The online catalog is an index of the books, journals and special collections held in the Keeneland Library. While you are in the Library, you can consult the catalog via the public access computers to locate materials in the building. If you are a remote researcher, you can explore the collections before making a trip to the Library. Search by title, author, subject or keyword to prepare a list of materials to consult.
While the online catalog is designed as an index to collections, it can often point you to full-text, online versions of books and journals.
If prompted to sign-in with a Library name, enter "Keeneland Library" and no password.
Contact The Library
Join Our Mailing List
Educational Experiences
Frequently Asked Questions
Visit Us
The Keeneland Library is free and open to the public.
The Keeneland Library is a reference-only, non-circulating library that offers wireless Internet, work and study spaces and public-access computers.
The Keeneland Library is open year-round to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The Library is closed on all federal holidays.
The Library will be closed from December 22, 2025, through January 2, 2026.
Keeneland Library
4201 Versailles Rd.
Lexington, KY 40510
Phone: 859 288-4224