Stevenson-Ives Library

Welcome to the Stevenson-Ives Library, one of the finest local history and genealogy research libraries in downstate Illinois. The Library contains more than 16,000 books and periodicals with a focus on McLean County and Central Illinois history and genealogy. The Library contains the collections of the McLean County Museum of History, the McLean County Genealogical Society, and the Letitia Green Stevenson Chapter of the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR).

Library holdings emphasize McLean County, Bloomington-Normal, and outlying communities, with secondary emphasis given to adjacent counties. The collection also includes historical material relating to areas of source migration to McLean County.

The Museum is a member of both the Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS) and the Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC). The Museum's Library holdings can be accessed through the RAILS' Resource Sharing Alliance (RSA) catalog, as well as OCLC's OCLC Online Union Catalog known as WorldCat, which includes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories.

Library holdings include:

• Genealogical Works - Family histories, vital records, church publications, standard reference works, and society quarterlies.

• Works on Material and Popular Culture, Intellectual, Technical, and Social History - Cookbooks, works on etiquette, housekeeping, architecture, folklore, medicine, women, education, and transportation.

• Directories and Annuals - City and rural directories; junior high, high school and college yearbooks; and directories of professional, social, and religious organizations.

• Works by McLean County Authors - Sizable collection of published works by McLean County residents, including Rachael Crothers, Harold Sinclair, Jerry Sohl, Wilson Tucker and many others.

• Military Histories - Includes histories of Civil War regiments associated with McLean County, as well as works relating to earlier and later conflicts.

• Biographies - Works pertaining to the lives and careers of McLean County or Central Illinois residents, as well as biographical compendiums.

• Lincoln-related Works - Biographies and specialized studies, as well as works relating to Lincoln's manifold legal, political, and personal ties to McLean County.

• Religious Works - Sermons by McLean County residents, hymnals used by various religious sects in McLean County, Roman Catholic missals and prayer books, and Bibles owned by local families.

• Agricultural Works - Works on nineteenth-century American agriculture, including works referencing practices and techniques relevant to McLean County.