Research Services

Obituary Searches

Library staff can perform an obituary search in the local newspaper if provided a name and an exact date of death. Note that not all deaths are mentioned in the newspaper, in either obituaries or death notices. Obituaries are submitted (and paid for) by surviving family members (or other associates of the deceased) at their own discretion.

Please Note: Special Collections has a standard charge of $10 for obituary requests, which includes up 30 minutes of staff time to work on the request. This service includes up to 10 pages of copies for personal use only. We do our best to fill requests in a timely manner, though Special Collections has limited hours and staffing. We are generally unable to respond to requests Friday through Sunday or after hours.

Please fill out our online form to submit a request for an obituary. You do not need a Haverhill Public Library card to submit a request, though the $10 charge is waived for current HPL cardholders.

Research Requests

Library staff can perform basic research and attempt to answer simple reference questions remotely. If you have more than one question, please submit a separate Research Request for each one. We are unable to provide in-depth research, which the library defines as research that would take longer than 30 minutes to complete.

Please be specific in your requests:

We can attempt to find a specific information about a person, business, place, or event, such as dates, addresses, or associated names, but we do not have the capacity to compile a comprehensive summary about your research subject.

Please note: Special Collections has a standard charge of $10 for research requests, which includes up 30 minutes of staff time to work on the request. This service includes up to 10 pages of copies for personal use only. We do our best to fill requests in a timely manner, though Special Collections has limited hours and staffing. We are generally unable to respond to requests Friday through Sunday or after hours.

Please fill out our online form to submit a research question. You do not need a Haverhill Public Library card to submit a request, though the $10 charge is waived for current HPL cardholders.