The McHenry County Historical Society’s Research Library contains an astonishing collection of recordings, periodicals, other print materials, postcards, personal letters, maps, obituary files, images, and more from McHenry County. However, unlike a public library, because of these items’ fragile and historic nature, the McHenry County Historical Society’s Library is accessible only by appointment after completing a request. We cannot accommodate walk-ins, no matter the circumstances or distance traveled.
**Research fees are considered non-refundable.
**Please see our Research Library Guidelines for additional information, including general guidelines, photocopy restrictions and fees, copyright rules, and digital image purchases**
Requests for research or images must be made by postal mail or by submitting an online request below. We cannot take requests for research over the phone or email. Please allow at least six weeks for your request to be completed.
Once your request and associated fees are submitted, we will begin the research. The researcher assigned to your project may contact you for more information or about what they’ve found and, if needed, schedule an appointment for you to review documents. We charge a research fee to cover the cost of archival materials and the time a researcher spends investigating your request. Thus, research fees are non-refundable, even if we do not locate any information.
Library Holdings
The McHenry County Historical Society’s Research Library contains an extensive array of Information about McHenry County history, including but not limited to subject files, biography files, obituary files, photograph files, local history books, scrapbooks, diaries, tax records, patentee books, plat maps, yearbooks, telephone directories and much more.
These lists give an idea of the information available when making a research request.
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17 United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material.
Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish photocopies or other reproductions. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any other purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user requests for or later uses a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement.
The institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would violate copyright law.
In September 2022, our Library Committee and Staff celebrated the library’s 40th Anniversary of service to our constituents. The committee edited and prepared an extensive eight-page commemorative brochure for the event.
Read it here: Commemorative 40th Library History Brochure.
