[Genealib] Can Genealogy Save Your Library?

[Devine, Kathryn]

Hello Everyone

 

My question to the list is this: have any of you deliberately tried to
attract genealogists to increase reference statistics, or have they
found you and you've seen a surge in genealogy-related reference
questions? In other words, has genealogy "saved" your library (or
society, etc.), or at least given it a new vitality?

 

The Genealogy Committee of RUSA's History Section is in the preliminary
stages of planning a genealogy-related session for ALA 2008 in Anaheim.
The session is tentatively titled, "Can Genealogy Save Your Library?"

 

A few years ago the Washington State Library in Olympia was threatened
with closure by the (not current) governor. I won't go into all the gory
details here. But basically to "save" the library, we were moved under
the supervision of the Secretary of State and we shifted our focus to
highlight the local history and genealogy resources in the library.
Currently approximately 50% or more of our reference questions (most
submitted via email) are genealogy related. And there is a proposal
going through state legislature now to create a Heritage Center, which
would bring the State Library, State Archives, and State Historical
Society together into one building. If anyone is interested in that
project, take a look: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/heritage/

 

Have any of you experienced something similar by serving genealogy
patrons? If any of you have stories, we would love to hear them. We are
in the information gathering stage and hope to have a proposal ready to
submit by ALA Annual Conference this June. Feel free to contact me off
the list if you wish.

 

Kathryn Devine

Genealogy Reference Librarian

Washington State Library

Olympia, WA

kdevine at secstate.wa.gov

(360) 704-5268

 

 

 

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