Most people who have been doing genealogy for a while begin to accumulate books and other resources that we have found in our search. The truly lucky ones will also have a few genealogies relating to their own families that someone else has already published.
My personal library is not extensive, but it is well-used, some have bookmarks, highlighting, notes in the margins, or those little colored flags protruding from the pages. I have a decent collection of how-to books for getting started in genealogy. I also have a few local histories relevant to ancestral home towns. The local histories are some of my favorites to go through from time to time. I especially enjoy the photo histories by Arcadia Publishing, such as “Around Dover-Foxcroft,” by local author Stephen Rainsford.
I have quite a collection of books to help with more advanced or specific research, as well as books which explain old occupations; and how to use Google to best advantage for family history research. Of course I have collected notebooks of various articles from magazines, etc. which I have cut out and put into my beloved sheet protectors.
My personal genealogy library is really quite small compared to some I have seen, but I love it nonetheless, and I’m sure it will continue to grow.
Some genealogists get excited about certain aspects of their family history, and begin to “specialize” their library. A good example would be Wassebec’s outgoing president, Wayne Bennett, who has done extensive research on the Civil War, so his personal library spans both interests. My library sports one volume specific to Irish research and I hope to someday add Marcia Melnyk’s book on Italian research.
One of the most extensive personal libraries I know of is owned by Aroostook County genealogist Jay Bullard. Jay is an avid genealogist whose own family history abounds with County and nearby Canadian roots. He has amassed a vast personal library of information pertinent to the people and places significant to Aroostook County and Atlantic Canada. Jay is generous by nature, and when he presented a workshop in Dover-Foxcroft, he transported over 100 volumes relevant to Franco-American research for those attending to use while he was available for questioning.
A recent Wassebec newsletter mentioned a member’s research; and disappointment with an official Canadian document. Within a day of receiving his copy of the newsletter, Jay sent an e-mail full of more information on that family, gleaned from his own sources. Jay also edits and publishes the newsletters for the Aroostook County Genealogical Society, which are usually at least half a dozen pages jam-packed with hints and research results. Jay is a shining example of the bigheartedness of genealogists.
For those of you unable to gather such materials, it is helpful to join a genealogical society. Members are usually more than happy to share an exciting resource, or guide you to another source you might not have found otherwise. We are famous for searching yard sales and haunting book stores to find and share treasures which might have otherwise been discarded, such as diaries, family bibles and old histories.
Editor’s note: Columnist Nina Brawn of Dover-Foxcroft, who has been doing genealogy for over 30 years, is a freelance genealogy researcher, speaker and teacher. Reader e-mails are welcome at ninabrawn@gmail.com. The Aroostook County Genealogical Society meets the fourth Monday of the month except in July and December at the Cary Medical Center’s Chan Education Center, 163 Van Buren Road, Caribou, at 6:30 p.m. Guests and prospective members are always welcome. FMI contact Edwin “J” Bullard at 492-5501.
