Wake Public Libraries Offers Online Genealogy Service

3/2/2005

Genealogists, rejoice! Wake County Public Libraries is now making HeritageQuest, an online genealogy database service, available to library patrons. Users simply key in their library card barcode and password to access more than 250,000 titles of books and articles about family history.

Who are these library customers? Most families have at least one. They are the folks who listened to the stories at family reunions, collected photographs and happily accepted the hand-embroidered cloths that required ironing and quilts that looked a bit worn. They are the folks who not only gather the story of a family – the names, dates and places – but also bring those ancestors to life by telling their stories in the context of the social history of that time.

For Wake County residents and those whose ancestors ever lived in Wake or the counties from which it was created, Olivia Raney Local History Library, located at 4016 Carya Drive, Raleigh, is the jewel in the crown. It offers extensive genealogical material on Wake and its contiguous counties and the areas from which Wake ancestors emigrated – Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, in particular – as well as books about everyday life in various periods of American history and several significant archival collections, including journals and diaries related to Raleigh and Wake County.

For current Wake County residents whose families hailed from farther afield, Olivia Raney offers the Ancestry Library Edition, which includes more than 4,000 databases and "crosses the pond" to include Ancestry UK. This year, some Swedish-American genealogists are also taking advantage of a patron donation for a yearlong subscription to Genline, the Swedish Church Records Online.

These researchers, like genealogists everywhere, have discovered the famous, the infamous and the "just regular folks" in their families, and they have learned that in sharing their discoveries, "If you can’t get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you’d best teach it to dance" (George Bernard Shaw). Ask a genealogist to tell you a story and prepare to be captivated, or, better yet, start researching yourself – online. Beginning Genealogy is next offered at Olivia Raney on Tuesday, March 15, from 7-9 p.m. Call (919) 250-1229 for more information and to reserve your seat.

Olivia Raney Local History Library is located in the Wake County Office Park, just east of the I-440 Beltline at the Poole Road exit (Exit 15). For more information, call the library at 250-1229.

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