The library collection includes books, magazines, pamphlets, church and school histories, yearbooks, atlases, family histories, genealogical and historical periodicals, published records of state government, poetry, music, and newspapers. The library is a depository for selected federal documents. Access to these materials is through card catalogs, indexes, and finding aids. The library collection is cataloged by Kansas and non-Kansas holdings into the Kansas card catalog and the general card catalog, respectively. Stack areas are closed to the public.
Researchers fill out call slips and request materials at the retrieval desk.
Books do not circulate on interlibrary loan. The Kansas State Historical Society was established by the state's newspaper editors in 1875. A virtually complete collection of all Kansas newspapers published from 1875 to the present is available on microfilm or in original form. The Society solicited copies of Kansas newspapers published before 1875 and received a significant number that are now on microfilm. Newspapers on microfilm also are available to local libraries through our interlibrary loan program .