The New Hampshire Room offers a reference collection of materials of interest to the local historian, genealogist, and patron interested in NH history and culture. Included in the collection are city and town histories, biographies of famous N.H. people, books by N.H. authors, N.H. government, Manchester history and government and genealogies of major N.H. families. Materials are intended for use in the NH Room only, but special permission may be granted to use materials elsewhere in the building.

Research policies and NH Room rules

Assistance is available to researchers as time permits. Research requests may include but are not limited to newspaper article or obituary searches, city directory or telephone book searches, or searches of other NH Room materials. The Manchester Union Leader is not indexed prior to 1989. In-person assistance will be given free of charge to patrons visiting the NH Room. Library staff will conduct research for patrons who call, write, or e-mail with questions according to the following guidelines.

• Research requests requiring less than one hour of staff time to answer will be conducted free of charge. Questions requiring additional time to answer will be assessed a fee of $20 per hour after the first hour, or $5 per quarter hour, up to a maximum of 3 hours total.
• A Request for Staff Research form should be completed for each request. You can also download a PDF version of the research form if you would prefer to send it by mail. Send it to:

Manchester City Library
Attn: Information Services
405 Pine Street
Manchester, NH 03104

• Patrons may indicate in advance how much time they are willing to pay for, or ask library staff to contact them after the first hour of research is complete for an estimate of how much more time will be required.
• Delivery: The above charges, if any, include up to five pages printed for free, including postage. Additional pages will be assessed a charge of $0.20/page, plus postage. There is no charge for PDF or image files sent via e-mail.
• Patrons are limited to two research requests per month.
• The staff will not conduct Federal Census or Manchester vital records searches (births, marriages, deaths). While Manchester vital records are available in the NH Room on microfilm for patrons to view in person, patrons contacting the library hoping to have vital records sent to them are to be directed to the Office of the Manchester City Clerk.

Requests for Rare Books and material in storage are made by appointment. Materials may be handled, photocopied or photographed depending on their condition.

The Internet station in the NH Room is for NH and genealogy topics only. Time restrictions may apply.

The New Hampshire Room is open limited hours. Patrons may request to schedule an appointment to use the NH Room outside its normal hours by contacting the NH Room Librarian or the Head of Information & Technology. Requests will be honored when possible, based on availability of library staff.

A complete list of the collection is obtained by using the library's automated catalog.