World's Largest Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah

If you are investigating and documenting your family history and need help finding a missing link in your family tree, you must plan a trip to the Salt Lake City Utah Family History Library sponsored by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). The LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City is free and open to the public. It is located at 35 North West Temple Street, Room 344, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84150-3440 and the public phone number is (801)-240-2584 or 866-406-1830. The Family History Library hours are: Monday from 8am-5pm; Tuesday-Saturday from 8am-9pm and closed on Sundays.

Founded in 1894, the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City houses a collection of genealogical records with names for more than 3 billion deceased people. It is the largest collection of its kind in the world. More than 200 cameras of the Genealogical Society of Utah are currently microfilming records around the world, including birth, marriage, and death registers; census returns; court, property, and probate records; emigration and immigration lists; printed genealogies; and family histories.

The LDS Family History Library has four floors that contain records from the U.S., Canada, the British Isles, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. The library offers orientation classes for professional genealogists and amateur family history researchers to help navigate through the vast amount of free public resources including books, microfilm, and computerized data. The LDS Family History Library databases can also be accessed online at FamilySearch.org for free.

The LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah has more than 202 patron computers, 509 microfilm readers, 36 microfiche readers, and 28 microfilm and microfiche copiers that can be used for free to search and document your family history. The library contains tables that can seat around 400 people at one time. They currently have about 125 paid staff and around 400 trained volunteers who help with family history searches and documentation.

If you are planning a trip to Salt Lake City to visit the world's largest genealogical library, you might want to make some preparations for your visit to the LDS Family History Library. The library staff recommends that before you visit, you collect as much information about your family as you can prior to your visit. You can interview family members and write down all the information you can gather from family, friends, letters, notes in Bibles or other family memory books, etc. Other recommendations for doing some preliminary online searches for family members can be found at Preparing to Visit the Family History Library web site. Even if you cannot make the trip to Salt Lake City, this web site has great links and information about family history search tips and other family history resources if you are a beginner.

The LDS Family Search Center in Salt Lake City Utah is an extension of the LDS Family History Library. It is located east of Temple Square in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. The LDS FamilySearch Center has 100 computer terminals that the public can use for free to access all the LDS Family History Library databases. The LDS FamilySearch Center is a good place for beginning your genealogy and family history investigations because they have trained volunteers that can answer questions and provide assistance in your online and computer searches.

The LDS Family Search Center is open Monday-Friday from 9am-9pm and on Saturday from 9am-5pm. The facility is closed on Sunday and on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. You can also schedule group visits to the LDS Family Search Center if you are planning a home school or classroom heritage activity about family history, family trees, or ancestral backgrounds. To schedule a group visit, you can call 801-240-4673 or FAX 801-240-3718.

Sources:

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/FHL/frameset_library.asp

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Home/News/frameset_news.asp?PAGE=Press/fhl_familysearch.asp

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhl/frameset_library.asp?PAGE=library_preparing.asp