According to USA Today, genealogy is currently the second most popular hobby in the U.S.
Despite online resources, family history isn’t becoming an armchair-only hobby. A few years ago, University of Illinois Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism professor Carla Santos described “genealogy tourists” as a fast-growing segment of leisure travelers. They’re tourists in search of their own stories. After interviewing visitors to the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Santos described them as searching for a “generational sense of the self.”
“It starts at home, where they learn everything they can online. Then they want the tactile experience of research, of going to the library to learn more.”
“This form of tourism is growing rapidly and is increasingly popular as western societies age,” Dallen Timothy, professor at Arizona State University and editor of the Journal of Heritage Tourism.
People are also reading…
During the last major library remodeling, the club and the library worked together, planning club space in the library as part of the library’s long-term plans. Now some club shelving has been removed at the librarian’s instructions causing irreplaceable documents to be stored on the porch of a club member.
Genealogy resources that can’t be found on the internet are a draw to the genealogist. Not all resource material can be digitized; old maps and plat books are valuable for research and information.
The genealogy group depends on membership dues for its finances and doesn’t have funding or cash flow to be able to buy or rent space elsewhere.
Library use is trending down. Libraries need to support resources that bring people in the door to justify their existence.
Library board: reverse the eviction order and support this valuable part of your community.
Patty Paul, Boerne, Texas