Mission: To procure, preserve, present and provide the historical records that make up Austin's unique story.

If you will be conducting research in the AHC Reading Room, please be aware of what you can expect.  You can also get a head start on some research from home.

Our parking lot is unavailable due to construction. So for now, when you visit the AHC, you'll need to pay to park in a metered spot on a nearby street. Metered parking is free on Sundays.

To ensure the security and preservation of our materials, when you arrive at the Austin History Center we will ask that you:

• Sign in at the front desk.
• Place all bags and personal belongings in the lockers provided. Exceptions are provided for cameras, phones, and laptops, as long as you lock up the case.  You may also bring in up to five (5) loose sheets of your own notes.
• Use pencils, not pens, while in the Reading Room. We provide pencils and note paper.
• Fill out a call slip to request materials and staff will retrieve materials for you.
• Use all of our materials in the Reading Room. Items may not be checked out.
• Archival research can be time-consuming; please plan accordingly and provide yourself sufficient time to do your research. 

Also available in our Reading Room:

• Photocopier.  The rate is $.20 per page, payable by cash, check or credit cards when you are ready to leave.
• Four microform reader-printers. Two of our machines can scan microforms to a PC. The image files can then be either e-mailed via webmail or transferred to a flash drive. Unfortunately, the current computers cannot burn files to a CD.
• Two computers to access Austin History Center and Austin Public Library reference databases.
• Televisions, VCRs, DVD players, record and audiocassette players for accessing items from our Audio-Video collections.
• Adaptive equipment: Kurzweil reader, Jaws and Magic.