Week 32 - At The Library (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks)

I spent many, many hours at the local library when I was a young girl.  It was one of my favorite places to go.  In those days, I was fortunate to be able to walk from my house to downtown and bring home an armload of books to read.  I would meet my best friend, Mary, there too.  We both loved to read.  I always thought that being a librarian would be the best job.  It was not to be, but as I got older, I spent my time in the library doing research for homework assignments. It never felt like "work" to me because I loved the search and the results of the search.  

My hometown library in Pottsville, PA

Later in life, when I became interested in genealogy, I would try to visit the library when we were home visiting, but those times were few and far between.  When I would go, I would not find very much for the family I was searching for or didn't know what to ask for there,  With small children to raise, I could not travel to locations that may have had the information that I was looking for and really had no time to devote to the letter writing required in those days when I wanted to ask for information.

Then the Internet came along. It was like having a library at my fingertips.  My genealogy pursuit came alive as I was able to find much more of the information that I wanted.  I also began finding more books that I wanted to read and now I have my own home mini library.

Even though I do not often get to the local library, I still recognize their value as a place to learn how to research and find things otherwise unknown and I hope that they never go away.  

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