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Beginning on Sunday, May 26, 2013, The Genealogy Center  like other facilities of the Allen County Public Library, will begin to be closed on Sundays through the summer months. Other regular hours, Monday through Thursday, 9 Am to 9 PM, and Fridays and Saturdays 9 AM to 6 PM, will remain the same. Sunday hours are scheduled to recommence on Sunday September 8, 2013.

The Genealogy Center, like all of the Allen County Public Library agencies, will be closed Monday, May 27, 2013 in honor of Memorial Day. We will be open our regular house on Saturday, May 25, 9 AM to 6 PM, and on Tuesday May 28, 9 AM to 9 PM. Take this day to honor our veterans who fought and died for our freedom.

by Matt

Each day The Genealogy Center is fortunate enough to receive donations of all kinds to be added to our collection, but many of you might be curious about what happens to donations before they are available on the shelves for patrons to use.

Every item that is added to the collection is carefully analyzed to determine where it would be best placed and a corresponding call number is assigned. A record is then created in our catalog, which includes a description of the physical piece as well as prominent subjects and family names. These subject headings are what relate the books to one another and are incredibly useful in locating similar materials in our collection. Because this is the first step in the process, it is possible for a record to display in the catalog before the book is on the shelf. Once the record in the catalog, the book is then labeled with the assigned call number and with a unique bar code. At this point hardcover books are ready to go up to the shelves.
Donations that are unbound or softcover will need to be sent to the bindery to be bound in hardcover. All of ...

by Delia

There are seven new Family Bible Records on our Genealogy Center Free Databases page. All seven are from the Franklin County, Indiana area, and include records for the Huntington, Logan, Maharry, Martin, Millsbaugh, Monroe, and Wilson-Applegate families. Remember that our Free Databases offer a wide range of material from various locations, and is constantly being updated. We'd also love to have your family Bible records, military records or other material to add. If you have any questions, just contact us!

We want to remind everyone that The Genealogy Center, like the rest of the Allen County Public Library's Main Branch, will be closed Sunday March 31, 2013. We are open our regular hours, 9A to 6P, on Saturday, March 30th, and on Monday, April 1st, 9A to 9P.

Whether they celebrate the holiday or not, many families have traditionally gathered that day, sharing stories of childhoods and ancestors.This year, if your family gathers, listen and record (audio, video or with pen and paper) the stories your relatives wish to impart.

by Delia

As you enter The Genealogy Center, you are greeted by a staff member and stop to ask a few questions before starting your research. Or maybe, when you enter, there are several people already asking questions at the desk, so, anxious to start, you bypass the crowd and begin on your own. Either way, later on, you have questions and you look over, and there are a couple of staff members tapping away at a keyboard or examining a book or some papers. No one is asking them any questions, but they look so busy that you don't want to "bother" them.

Well, first, and most importantly, we are never "too busy" to answer your questions and guide you in your research, so you must just overcome that hesitance and ask away. But, yes, we are busy, doing many things that, we hope, will add to our collections and enable you to search more efficiently.

So, just what are we doing?

One staff member peruses book catalogs and periodicals, seeking announcements of new books that are being published, books that we'd like to add to our collection. Another staff member is keeping track of the film that ...

by Delia

The Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 created Washington's Birthday on the third Monday of each February. Washington was born February 11, 1731, but due to Great Britain's change from the Julian to the Gregorian Calendar in 1752, which not only moved the calendar forward eleven days, but also made January 1st the start of the new year, instead of March 25th, he switched his birthday to February 22, 1732, to reflect this change. His birthday became a holiday for Federal workers in the District of Columbia in 1879, then expanded to all Federal workers in 1885. Lincoln's birthday (February 12) has never been an official holiday, but businesses began using the term Presidents' Day, and several states made their official holidays "Presidents' Day."

Whatever you call it, The Genealogy Center will be open its regular hours, 9A to 9P, and staff members will be here to answer questions and guide you in your research. Presidents' Day has traditionally been a great day for researchers, so come on in!

Good news! The shift is over! To provide room for expansion in our book stacks, a project was undertaken to shift material, creating room for growth. A great deal of planning to streamline the process was done before a single book was moved, and the result is amazing! In just two and a half months, our staff moved almost 75% of our book collection!

Books for Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin (977.4 thought 977.8) joined the Western state books in the compact shelving, and the rest of general United States material and Eastern states spread into the space created, leaving top shelves and some bottom shelves free for future expansion.

To create space in the compact shelves for these Midwestern states books, European material was moved from the south set of compact shelves to the western part of the north set of compact shelves.

Click to view the new Genealogy Center layout.

By Dawne

When the doors of the library open at 9 a.m. (or noon on Sunday) and you enter The Genealogy Center, you will see one or two librarians seated at the Ask desk, working on projects and waiting to welcome patrons. Guest passes are there for you to collect and the librarians are ready to answer your questions about where to find materials, the layout of the department, and where to begin your research. Computers, copiers and printers are humming and ready to go. Have you ever thought about what goes on before the library opens in the morning to get the area ready for you to do your research?

An Environmental Services housekeeper is the first to begin the day’s preparations in The Genealogy Center, dusting and cleaning counters and around computers and starting to turn on machines. This starts before 8 a.m.

The day-shift librarians “clock in” at 8. They continue the task of turning on lights in the catalog and copier alcoves and powering up the machinery, including copiers, printers, catalog stations, the registration computer, public service computers, print station computer, microtext scanners and Ask desk computers and printers. Currently, the public service computers ...