This Valentine's Day week, the staff of MGC will share some of our favorite stories of love, family, and genealogy. We hope you enjoy these endearing courtship stories as much as we enjoyed researching them.
Periodicals at MGC-Celebrating African American History Month
In celebration of African American History Month, MGC will spotlight African American heritage throughout the month of February. We hope you will enjoy our upcoming blogs and share your experiences with us, too.
How does spending a quiet afternoon in the Library sound? Sit back in one of our comfortable chairs by the window and read a few periodicals.
Are those letters in the history book, personal letter, or family bible too small to see clearly? The magnifying reader can help. The Midwest Genealogy Center has one located on the upper level, right above the main entrance.
This device, which resembles an old version of a computer, has adjustable functions to make the reading easier. The text can be enlarged, adjusted, and the colors can even be inverted, which sometimes works better for seeing small differences in letters.
One of my New Year’s resolutions is learning to be more productive (and stop procrastinating). No matter what my task, I find that I have trouble starting. But once I’m into it, I can’t stop. I find myself in an "all or nothing" mentality. Neither of which is conducive to accomplishing my goals. I can’t finish if I don’t start, and I’ll burn out if I don’t take a break.
Keeping the books, maps, microfilm, and fiche in the right places in the Midwest Genealogy Center is not for the faint of heart. Our employees, known as Pages here at MGC, form an unbeatable team. For instance, four of our Pages joined us after retiring from other places of employment. We are the benefactors of their years of experience. Currently, they are diligently indexing the Kansas City Star obituary books. They also help us by replacing damaged labels, finding lost books, and retrieving holds (books requested for check out by Library customers).
How can ten people keep a library in tip top shape? By being tip top people to begin with! The Midwest Genealogy Pages are a hard-working group of individuals but also a very eclectic group.
For instance, one of our Pages has her Master’s degree in diplomacy and just did a nine month teaching assignment in Honduras. Another comes to us after being raised in Lima, Peru. She also served as a missionary in Uruguay and Venezuela, bringing with her a wealth of knowledge and fluency in Spanish.
Have you ever returned a book to any Mid-Continent Public Library? Have you ever requested a book from a MCPL branch? Have you ever taken a book off of a shelf and returned it to a book return cart or to the front desk? I can guarantee if you have done any of the above mentioned activities, you have engaged one of the hardest working groups of our employees…our Pages.
The pen is mightier than CDs, email, Twitter, and other electronic communication! I was listening to National Public Radio and heard a story about a packet of letters found along the New Jersey Shore after Superstorm Sandy. They were tied with a pink ribbon and were from the 1940s. The people who found them wanted to do all they could to return them to the owners.
Ordering Microfilm from the Family History Library
All genealogists know about the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah and about their wonderful website. But did you know that you can order microfilm online and have it sent here to the Midwest Genealogy Center? Start by searching the catalog on www.familysearch.org to see what is available. Below find a summary of the charges and instructions for ordering:
Happy New Year! Throughout the month of January, MGC will be highlighting the work of some of our most treasured staff -- our pages. Please enjoy the following introduction to what our Library pages do and check back for more throughout the month:
