Wordless Wednesday : NEHGS Comes West! Sept 13, 2014

With thanks to CGS' Ron Madson for the photographs!

Copyright © 2014 by Ellen Fernandez-Sacco, California Genealogical Society and Library.

We Need Your Books!

Henry Snyder at a California Genealogical Society used book sale.

The donation of books accounts significantly for the growth in holdings of the California Genealogical Society Library over the past century. Duplicate books and donated items that do not meet the library's retention guidelines are sold and the proceeds support the library.

Library Committee Chair Henry Snyder sent this plea for books:

The Library of the California Genealogical Society needs your books! Our library is built by gifts from members and friends. We are looking for books on family history, genealogies and local history. We accept one book or a whole library of books as long as they are within scope.

Books that are duplicate or out of scope are sold in the library or on ebay. The receipts are used for acquisitions and library needs.

In addition to our online and in-house sales we plan to have books on exhibit and for sale at our upcoming Ancestry Day in San Francisco on November 9, 2013. So we welcome duplicates as well as items new to our library. We will need time to ready the duplicates for sale so if you have books to donate we would appreciate receiving them this summer. 

Please call the library at 510-663-1358 and leave a message. A member of the library staff will return your call. We can make pickups in the East Bay and San Francisco in some cases. 

—Henry Snyder, Chair Library Committee

Photograph by Kathryn Doyle, 1/11/2011, Oakland, California.

Copyright © 2013 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Books for Sale

Publications by the California Genealogical Society

Photograph by Kathryn M. Doyle, 3/12/2013, Oakland, California.

Copyright © 2013 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Purchase Used Genealogy Books and Support Our Library on eBay

eBay defines itself as "the world's online marketplace – a place for buyers and sellers to come together and trade almost anything." It is now also a way to give to the California Genealogical Society and Library.

Thanks to the generosity of our members, book donations continue to add to our library's collection but with so many gifts many are duplicates. Using our book donation policy as a guide, duplicate titles in better condition than our shelved volumes are retained. The rest accumulate until the library committee organizes a used book sale, usually held in conjunction with special events like the annual meeting, NEHGS Comes West, or our recent 115th Anniversary Celebration. The used book sales are always successful and are great source of revenue to support the library.

Now our library volunteers have taken their fund-raising formula to the "online marketplace"  with eBay Giving Works – a program designed to make it easy for nonprofits to sell online. Best of all,100% of the proceeds come back to CGS.

Shirley Hoye and Arlene Miles

Selling books on eBay is a team effort. Shirley Hoye researches each book to determine the price, makes a copy of the title page, notes the book's condition and weighs it. Marcelle White, who set up the society's eBay and Giving Works accounts, photographs the books and uploads them to the site.

Marci and Arlene Miles monitor sales and ready the books for shipping. Gibran Rath, Shirley and Library Chair Henry Snyder have donated packaging materials. One of the team will box up the books, print labels and ship them. Arlene commented, "It's quite a job to synchronize but we now have one heck of a team!"

Marcelle White and Arlene Miles

Henry noted, "Thanks to Marci, we now are approaching 100 items listed for sale on eBay. Even better, in the first week or so we sold seven titles for more than $200.00."Marci added, "I'm glad to be able to make our library's overstock available via eBay to family history researchers across the country."

While books are waiting to be added to eBay they are available for browsing in the library. Members may view the selection of used books during our open hours Thursday through Saturday. Books can be be purchased from the front desk volunteers who will issue a receipt.

Marcelle White and Henry Snyder

Visit the society's eBay online storefront CGSbooks4Sale at http://myworld.ebay.com/cgsbooks4sale to purchase our used books. You can even include a donation!

Or, start selling on eBay and donate a percentage of your proceeds (up to 100%) to the California Genealogical Society using eBay Giving Works at http://givingworks.ebay.com/charity-auctions/charity/california-genealogical-society/77399/.

Copyright © 2013 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Annual Business Meeting Postponed One Week

Saturday, January 21, 2012
1:00 p.m.

California Genealogical Society Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2
Oakland, CA 94612

The bylaws of the California Genealogical Society specify that the regular January membership meeting shall be the Annual Business Meeting "at which time the annual budget shall be adopted and all appropriate business presented."

This year's meeting will be postponed one week to avoid the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. The Annual Business Meeting will be held on Saturday, January 21, 2012, at 1:00 p.m.


President Steve Harris will preside over the meeting. Agenda items will include:

• treasurer's report from Laura Lee Karp and approval of the society budget
• report from the nominating committee by Linda Okazaki, nominations and election of new board members
• brief committee reports
• remarks from the president

Following the meeting there will be a member reception and refreshments in the Sherman Room.

In addition, the library will hold a used book sale from 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Library Committee volunteer Arlene Miles reports some great bargains among the wide variety of used genealogy books and periodicals set aside for the sale. Donated books continue to be a welcome source of materials in the library and the society is selling those which are duplicates of items already on our shelves and some which do not meet the strict collection policy. Proceeds are used to purchase more books.



Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Annual Meeting, Book Sale & Volunteer Appreciation Reception - January 8, 2011

The Annual Business Meeting of the California Genealogical Society will be held on Saturday, January 8, 2011, at 1:00 p.m., at the CGS Library, 2201 Broadway at 22nd, Suite LL2, Oakland. Please join President Stephen Harris who will be making his first report to the society.

The agenda includes brief committee reports, approval of the society budget, the annual election of new board members, a brief review of 2010 and some details of upcoming 2011 programs.

In addition to the meeting, the library will hold a used book sale from 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Library Committee volunteer Arlene Miles reports that there are some great bargains among the wide variety of used genealogy books and periodicals set aside for the sale. Donated books continue to be a welcome source of materials in the library and the society is selling those which are duplicates of items already on our shelves and some which do not meet the strict collection policy. Proceeds are used to purchase more books!

Last, but not least, refreshments will be served during a reception after the meeting. It is the annual "Volunteer Appreciation" get-together. Please come and thank our members who donate their time to do the work of the society.


Copyright © 2010 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Come One, Come All - Used Book Sale & Fundraiser for CGS

Attention, bibliophiles!

The California Genealogical Society and Library invites you to come browse our book sale on Saturday, November 8, 2008 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The sale is part of the special Thanksgiving at CGS! event to honor our volunteers.

CGS Library Committee volunteer Arlene Miles reports that there are some great bargains among the wide variety of used genealogy books and periodicals set aside for the sale. Donated books continue to be a welcome source of materials in the library and the society is selling those which are duplicates of items already in our collection and some which do not meet the strict collection policy. Also priced to sell are older editions or printings of books on our shelves that have been replaced by newer versions.

The CGS Library recently received a donation totaling fourteen boxes of materials from one member. About half of the items are new to the library and will be kept for the society collection. The balance will be sold and I am told by volunteer Librarian Barbara Hill that "there is lots of good stuff."

Arlene, Barbara, Laura Spurrier and Gloria Hanson are to be commended for their efforts. I admit I sneaked a peek at some items that Barbara was processing and I noticed a copy of Pennsylvania Line: A Research Guide to Pennsylvania Genealogy and Local History. This is a classic that went out of print years ago. I'm also told that one batch of donated items on sale is heavy on Virginia and Kentucky.

Please note that all sales are final. First come, first served. See you there!