Featured Exhibits
From 1997 to 2017, Cincinnatians tuning in to Local 12 WKRC-TV each week saw the familiar face of host Dan Hurley on the set of “Local 12 Newsmakers.” View full, unedited episodes in this engaging virtual experience about our local civic landscape. Online exhibit, opens a new window | View Episodes, opens a new window
Acclaimed historian, journalist, and biographer Walter Isaacson is the 2022 Mary S. Stern Lecturer.
Issacson has chronicled transformative ideas and innovative partnerships of Steve Jobs, opens a new window, Albert Einstein, opens a new window, Benjamin Franklin,, opens a new window and Leonardo da Vinci, opens a new window. In celebration of the Stern Lecture, materials from CHPL’s Rare Books Collection are on display highlighting three such historic scientific partnerships.
The Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library is fortunate to own one of the few intact copies of John James Audubon’s Birds of America. Online exhibit | Learn more or plan a visit
Coordinated by the Library of Congress (LOC), the Veterans History Project calls for Americans to play a personal role in preserving the nation’s history by collecting first-hand accounts of those who defended the United States during wartime. Online exhibit, opens a new window | YouTube interviews, opens a new window
On September 24, 1848, Charles Fontayne and William S. Porter set up their camera on a rooftop in Newport, Kentucky and panned across the Ohio River capturing on eight separate daguerreotype plates a panorama of the nation's sixth largest city, Cincinnati.
Amelia Valerio Weinberg Memorial Fountain
The fountain is located on the Vine Street plaza in front of the Main Library. Affectionately known as the "book fountain," it was conceived and executed by former Cincinnati sculptor Michael Frasca.
Louise Nevelson Sculpture
The 8th & Walnut Street entrance to the Main Library is flanked by “Sky Landscape II,” a major public sculpture by world-renowned artist Louise Nevelson (1899–1988).
When the original Main Library opened to the public in 1874, three beautiful, intricate stained glass windows graced one of the reading rooms in the building. The windows are now on display for the appreciation and enjoyment of our customers and staff.
