The Dorothy D. Richards Kansas Collection contains nonfiction and fiction books about the history of Kansas and the West. Here you will also find resources to help you trace your genealogy. There is a special collection having to do with Volga German families. In addition, there is microfilm of the Hays Daily News from 1929 to the present, as well as other Ellis County newspapers and Ellis County Census Records. We also have many maps and atlases, both historical and modern.

Kansas Room materials may not be checked out from the library but are available for use in the building.

The Kansas Room's photograph archives are now available online through the Kansas Room Digital Photo Archives! This searchable database contains copies of the nearly two thousand photographs the Kansas Room keeps in its records.

Upcoming Displays

• January – Books: Sod Houses
• January – Display Cases: Sod Houses and Kansas Songs
• February (Black History Month) – Books: Oscar Micheaux (Kansas film maker)
• February (Black History Month) – Display Cases: Eva Jessye (Kansas musician) and buffalo soldiers
• March – Books: Frontier Medicine
• March – Display Cases: Frontier Medicine and Dr. John Brinkley
• April – Books: Birds in Kansas
• April – Display Cases: Bird Watching in Kansas and the Western Meadowlark
• May – Books: Kansas Plants and Flowers
• May – Display Cases: Prairie Wildflowers and Lewis Lindsay Dyche (Kansas naturalist)