The Austin History Center (AHC) strives to make information about Austin and Travis County readily available to the public. Our books, periodicals and much of our media collection are listed in the Austin Public Library's Catalog and many of our archival collection finding aids have been posted to Texas Archival Resources Online. Our other materials may be accessed using a variety of in-house indexes, catalogs, databases and research guides. Our Reading Room staff is available to assist you in the use of these items.

Contact Us
If you have a question that requires only a short, factual answer, you may submit your question using our online form or call our reference desk at 512-974-7480.

Assistance with more in-depth research questions requires a fee and is discussed below.

Requests for In-Depth Research Assistance

** December 15, 2023: Paid research assistance is temporarily suspended due to limited staffing. See below for information on hiring a researcher.

The Austin History Center offers limited research assistance. The AHC charges a $15.00 non-refundable fee that entitles you to up to 30 minutes of staff research time ($16.24 for Texas residents due to sales tax).

To initiate a research request, fill out the Research Request Form and staff will contact you for a method of payment. We accept credit cards, checks, and money orders. Work on your request will begin when both the order form and complete payment are received. Orders are completed within two weeks. Customers are limited to one hour of research per month.

Please note that the Austin History Center reserves the right to refuse to fill any copy request because of potential damage to a fragile original or other concerns. We will make every effort to quickly inform customers if we cannot fill an order.

If you are unable to visit the Austin History Center in person and your project is one that requires in-depth research beyond the service that we are able to provide, you may wish to consider hiring a researcher from the Archivists of Central Texas’s proxy researcher list.

Other Duplication Requests
We are able in many cases to duplicate photographs and audio-visual materials for a fee. We also facilitate duplications of some oversized items through an outside vendor.