Stuck at home until who knows when, you are no doubt frantic for a meaty project to keep you distracted. How about exploring your family tree?
The St. Paul Public Library now offers free access to Ancestry.com, the popular genealogy service, for all patrons to access from home. Here are instructions for logging on.
Ancestry.com lets you sift through census imagery, access vital and military records, and comb through passenger and immigration lists. This might seem daunting, but the service has a video tutorial to get you started.
This is a reminder that the St. Paul Public Library has a rich variety of free online services that don’t require a branch visit, which is not possible right now.
You can check out ebooks, audiobooks and magazines using services like CloudLibrary, Overdrive and RBDigital. Pick among thousands of courses on Lynda.com. And that is just scratching the surface. Go to sppl.org and click on Digital Library to explore.
If you don’t have a library card, you aren’t shut out. The library offers an “e-card” option. Residents can apply online and gain access to the library’s electronic resources within a few business days. You will still need a library card to check out physical materials when library branches reopen.
Other Twin Cities public-library systems similarly offer assortments of digital services at no cost, so be sure to see what’s available where you live.
