The racing spotlight will soon shine on Keeneland, where many of the world’s finest horses and jockeys will display their talent from Oct. 2-24 as part of a boutique meet highlighted by 22 stakes races worth $10.7 million.

But what makes Keeneland special extends beyond racing excellence against a splendid autumn backdrop of maroon and gold. It is about dedicated people such as Keeneland Library Director Roda Ferraro and her staff, working quietly and diligently to gather information about racing’s rich past while helping to develop future generations of fans.

Ferraro at a community lecture in Paris, Ky. (Keeneland Library Collection)

“We’re really well-positioned to do remarkable things,” Ferraro said.

The Keeneland Library was established in 1939, three years after the racetrack opened. “The founders of Keeneland were very committed to preserving what has come before in the interest of bettering the sport moving forward,” Ferraro said.

The founders would undoubtedly be stunned to know that their vision led to the development of the world’s largest repository of information and image resources related to the Thoroughbred industry. Keeneland Library houses more than 30,000 books (some date to the 1500s), three million photographic items, and 25 million pages of articles.

“A fundamental right every person has is access to information. Access to good information can be a game changer in any setting, in any context, and it always has been,” Ferraro said, adding, “We work with all kinds of content creators, both in the industry and mainstream media, academics, and just the general community.”

Ferraro has completed more than 25,000 research projects since she joined the library in 2014 while connecting content creators with more than 100,000 images. The Pennsylvania native’s incessant pursuit of information began at an early age.

Exhibit experience with local high school students. (Keeneland Library Collection)

“I was that child who couldn’t get enough of museum visits and library visits,” she said.

Ferraro received her master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Kentucky in 2015. Her work was saluted with the Dr. Anne Butler History Award in 2025. The library was recognized with the Thomas D. Clark Award of Excellence from the Kentucky Historical Society earlier this year.

Laura Hillenbrand is among the authors indebted to the Keeneland Library for its help. Its research helped to provide the rich detail that went a long way toward making “Seabiscuit: An American Legend” a best-seller that was published in 2001. It later became a popular movie that continues to charm audiences young and old.

Jennifer Kelly is another author who is grateful to Ferraro and her staff for their invaluable assistance in writing “Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown” and “The Foxes of Belair: Gallant Fox, Omaha and the Quest for the Triple Crown.” Kelly has a third book on the way, “A Crown Most Splendid,” which delves into the evolution of the Triple Crown.

Ferraro hosts an education program tour. (Keeneland Library Collection)

“It just makes my job so much easier to have that resource there,” said Kelly, who also freelances for America’s Best Racing and other outlets.

Kelly lives in Alabama. She typically ventures to Lexington for a week at a time to research her books, secure in the knowledge that the library will have the material she needs to pore through waiting for her.

“They’ve been essential to every project I’ve worked on,” Kelly said. “They’re such a joy to work with.”

Ferraro makes sure the library is nimble enough to assist those who work remotely. “Ninety-five percent of the researchers are remote. They never enter the building,” she noted. “We kind of meet them where they are globally.”

According to Ferraro, the library has a 95% success rate in handling requests that are often as urgent as they are difficult. “We do not have everything and we can’t find everything,” she said. “There are requests that come in with really tight deadlines where, if we had another hour or two, we might be able to get our hands on it.”

Ferraro has placed a major emphasis on digitizing collections. Digital assets grew more than 500% in the last six years. Virtual programs, online galleries, and podcasts are used to connect with hundreds of thousands of children and adults in more than 40 countries.

Ferraro hosts Starting Gate Storytime. (Keeneland Library Collection)

Ferraro has overseen a major staff expansion after being the library’s only full-time employee. Sarah Cantor was hired two years ago as project curator, Erika Williams works as a research services associate, and Alli Bramel joined this year in the new position of outreach coordinator. Genesis Pena-Lozada and Kirk Hoefling are part-time associates with Lilly Penney recently coming on board as an intern.

“Our team is young, our team is eager, our team is filled with folks who are committed to what we do,” Ferraro said.

The library hit the road to bring programs to more than 100,000 learners of all ages in classrooms and community centers over the last three years. The Starting Gate Storytime program was established to cultivate the next generation of racing fans. Two recent important exhibits were “The Heart of the Turf: Racing’s Black Pioneers” and the first bilingual effort, “Raíces: The Making of Latino Legacies in Racing.”

Through it all and with strong support from Keeneland, Ferraro is the guiding force, appreciated by so many for her ability to find answers when others cannot.

“I’m just thrilled to say anything I can about her because she is one of the people I respect the most,” Kelly said. “She is just dear to me.”