Genealogy: Members Reconnect at our Library

by Jane Lindsey

Standing: Gibran Rath.  Seated around the table, left to right:  Arlene Miles,
Pat Bonderud, Georgia Lupinsky, Susan Logas, Kristi Wessenberg,
Nancy Cork & Shirley Hoye

I forgot how much fun our genealogy library can be!  A few weeks ago, I was on desk duty. On Thursdays there are always lots of volunteers working on various projects at the library, such as caring for our books and periodicals, our manuscript collection and the new vertical files.  There was a ton of energy buzzing about the library.  This Thursday however, was a little different from most.  It became a day that showed me how important visiting our library is to connect fellow genealogists.

Reconnecting

Many of you know that I've been contacting long-term and life members to thank them for their support of the California Genealogical Society (CGS).  Susan Logas was one of them. 

Susan, who lives in San Francisco, had not been to the library in years.  I contacted Arlene Miles and Gibran Rath who also live in San Francisco.  They arranged to pick her up and carpool to the library that day.  

After reconnecting with Susan over the phone, I was really excited to meet her for the first time.  She had joined CGS in 1974, and is a Life Member.  I was expecting someone advanced in years, but she is five years younger than me!  It was so nice to finally meet her!  She may even be interested in volunteering. 

There were three other patrons who came in that day:

• A man who was just beginning his Chinese and African American research in Louisiana. Linda Okazaki happened to be there and had a wealth of information to share with him.
• A woman looking for her family in San Francisco.  She found lots of resources and planned to return the next day.  The huge bonus is that she also joined the society!
• And new member Beau Mitchum, a cousin of Rick Sherman was there helping Georgia Lupinsky and me identify photos in the Sherman manuscript files.  He also used these files to find family information on his Allen line. 

This is why I volunteer at CGS!  To work with other genealogists (I learn something new every time I am there) and to meet new people to show them what a great resource we have at CGS.

Haven't been to the library in a while?  Come in and see how the library's resources and other volunteers can help you!

Copyright © 2016 by California Genealogical Society