About

Since its founding in 1831 as the library of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, the library has been collecting and preserving materials relating to the greater Cincinnati area, the state of Ohio and the Old Northwest Territory. Today, it houses one of the most significant regional history collections in the United States. Users may consult the Printed Works Collection (books, pamphlets, periodicals and maps), the Manuscript Collection and the Audiovisual Collection in the library's reading room. A detailed listing of history collection holdings is available in the Library's on-line catalog.

Library staff members provide access and reference services for Cincinnati Museum Center's history collections and administer the collection of printed works.

Reference Services
Librarians answer questions about the collections and consult printed general histories, biographical dictionaries, indexes and guides in order to answer brief questions. Fees are charged for in-depth reference searches and for searching microfilm files and newspapers even when specific dates are provided.