[Genealib] Re: Seattle Area Genealogy Libraries

[Heather McLeland-Wieser]

Kathryn;
 We do all kinds genealogy work with/and for out of state patrons.  The
only thing we cannot do for out of state individuals is obituary
lookups.  We used to do obituary look ups but became overwhelmed with
the number of requests (especially since we are unable to charge for the
service due to city ordinances) and so we negotiated the forwarding of
out of state requests to the State Library.  
Hope this claries the situtation.
Heather

>>> "Devine, Kathryn" <kdevine at secstate.wa.gov> 5/23/2007 10:05 AM >>>

Gretchen and Heather,
 
I noticed the reply from Seattle Public. While it’s true they have an
incredible genealogy collection, I have been told that genealogy
research is something that staff can only extend to Seattle Public
library card holders. I am a genealogy reference librarian at the
Washington State Library and Seattle Public routinely forwards
out-of-state genealogy requests (i.e. obituary lookups, city directory
research, etc) to us. Heather, if this policy has changed, please let us
know.
 
The State Library cannot do in-depth research on a surname or family,
but we can answer specific questions such as verifying a death date,
looking up an obituary, checking city directories for a particular
person, etc. The State Library has an excellent collection of historic
and current newspapers on microfilm from all over the state, including
Seattle. We also have an almost comprehensive collection of city
directories for the state, and the Washington Death Index from
1907-2004. Also early birth and death registers for most counties from
approximately 1891-1907. We also have the Washington Marriage Index from
1968-2004.
 
The State Library has an Ask A Librarian service:
http://www.secstate.wa.gov/library/ask_form.aspx. We also have a blog
now to give you some idea of the resources we have:
http://wastatelib.wordpress.com/. If you click on the “Handouts” tab
at the top of the page, you can download our bibliographies, including
several genealogy resource guides. 
 
So depending on the type of questions your patron has, please keep us
in mind.
 
Kathryn Devine
Reference Librarian
WashingtonStateLibrary
OlympiaWA
askalibrarian at secstate.wa.gov
 
***************************************************************************************************
 
 
 
Gretchen;
the Seattle Public Library is the largest genealogy library in the
region and we are more than happy to do remote reference for patrons. 
Please have your patron contact me directly 
heather.mcleland-wieser at spl.org or directly them to our website 
www.spl.org ( about:blankwww.spl.org ) and click on the ask a
question button.
 
 
Heather McLeland-Wieser,, C.G.  sm
Genealogy Librarian
Manager 
Art Recreation & Literature
History Travel & Maps
206-386-4092
 
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