About the Church History Library

“Behold, there shall be a record kept among you.”
—Doctrine and Covenants 21:1

The Church History Library building in Salt Lake City, Utah, was completed in 2009. It is a state-of-the-art facility designed to collect and preserve materials by or about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members. These records come from many different sources and represent numerous points of view. The collection consists of manuscripts, oral histories, architectural drawings, periodicals, maps, and other materials, including the following:

  • 375,000 books, pamphlets, magazines, and newspapers
  • 150,000 collections of original, unpublished records (journals, diaries, correspondence, minutes, and so on)
  • 4.6 million patriarchal blessings for Church members
  • 15,000 photograph collections
  • 70,000 audiovisual items


The collection continues to grow annually and is a prime resource for the study of Church history.

The library provides archival storage and public access for these materials. It has 10 main storage rooms that are kept at 55 degrees Fahrenheit and 35 percent relative humidity. Two special rooms are kept at −4 degrees Fahrenheit and 0 percent humidity for color motion picture films, early photographs, and other fragile records.

The Church History Catalog is the library’s portal to its collection. Using the catalog’s search features, you can find records, view digitized items, and experience audiovisual materials. The Church History Catalog also contains helpful information about using the catalog as well as links to research guides, research assistance, and featured collections.

In addition to the Church History Catalog, the library creates and manages research tools and databases to help researchers of all types, including scholars, authors, and family historians. For example, the Church History Biographical Database contains biographical information on Latter-day Saints who lived during the first 110 years of the restored Church. It includes data from authoritative primary sources on over 61,000 pioneers who immigrated to Utah between 1847 and 1868, as well as information on over 44,000 missionaries who served between 1830 and 1940.

The Church History Library maintains a blog, The Historical Record, which publishes frequent posts about library collections and their history, research tips, and other useful topics. The blog also features several series of related blog posts that discuss topics in greater detail, such as our series on the Journal of Discourses.

We also publish numerous research guides for researching a variety of topics, such as Women’s Organizations and the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company.

Most of the building is composed of storage and staff workspace, but there are public areas of the building where visitors can see priceless historical treasures and attend presentations on Church history. For example, some of our most important artifacts are on display in the Foundations of Faith exhibit. All of these items—and several more—are highlighted in the virtual Foundations of Faith exhibit on the library website.

Information about library location, hours, and parking is available on the Plan Your Visit page of the Church History Library website.

Recent Blog Posts

Video Library

Church History Library Timeline

For more videos highlighting events from Church history and the work of the Church History Department, check out our YouTube channel.

back to Church History Library