Mormon Family History Center in Eugene, Oregon

Family History Centers (FHCs) are branches of the

Family History Library The Family History Library (FHL) is a genealogical research facility in downtown Salt Lake City. The library is open to the public free of charge and is operated by FamilySearch, the genealogical arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

, Utah, operated by

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church). The centers supply resources for research and study of

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

and

family history Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

. As of 2020, there are more than 5,100 FHCs in 145 countries.
''Newsroom'', April 13, 2020. The smallest FHCs are targeted toward people living within the boundaries of individual congregations, known as Ward (LDS Church), wards and

branches A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term ''twig'' usually r ...

. Larger administrative areas such as stakes and

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

may house a FHC for their constituent wards/branches, or may share a facility with multiple stakes/districts in their

area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an op ...

. Regional FHCs are usually "library class" facilities designated as true branch libraries of the Salt Lake City Family History Library (FHL). FHCs with established hours of operation are open to members of the LDS Church and nonmembers alike. In 2020, the FHCs in the United States were closed in response to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

Ward, stake and multi-stake Family History Centers

FHCs vary greatly in size, hours staffed, and resources available.Allen, James B.; Jessie L. Embry; Kahlile B. Mehr. ''Hearts Turned to the Fathers: A History of the Genealogical Society of Utah''. Provo: BYU Studies, 1995. Because of changing demographics, many smaller FHCs are closing with their resources being directed into "Library Class" facilities similar to the Los Angeles Family History Library, but not like the Riverton FamilySearch Center that has computers only. Family History Centers in Salt Lake area will be consolidated
Shill, Aaron, Mormon Times, Deseret News Publishing Company, accessed June 7, 2010 Because most of the Family History Library film/fiche assets have been converted to digital images, microfilm distribution services ended on September 1, 2017. After that time access to microfilm/microfiche is restricted to the Internet or to collections already at the FHC or Family History Centers. Most of the larger Family History Centers provide some type of free access to a number of online subscription databases (e.g., ''Ancestry.com''). Mid-range FHCs may have small local book collections.

Ward FHC

The "Ward FHC" is the smallest, consists of at least one computer, related family history programs, most likely Internet access, and has the most variable hours per week because it has a volunteer staff. The ward (single congregation) FHC may or may not have a dedicated room in the ward building ("meetinghouse"), because most buildings are designed for multiple use. Such an FHC may or may not have microfilm or microfiche readers.Family History Center Operations Guide, updated 2008, produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Stake FHC

The "Stake FHC," which typically serves six or more ward or branch units (congregations), is the next in size and consists of two or more computers, related family history programs, Internet access, and usually offers more hours per week of service than does the ward FHC. Stake FHCs may have a small collection of CDs, books, and local historical materials. A Stake FHC usually has a dedicated room staffed by volunteers. Most have microfilm or microfiche readers, but no longer have the ability to receive film/fiches from the Salt Lake City Family History Library (FHL).

Multi-stake FHC

The "Multi-Stake FHC" serves two or more stake units consisting of eight or more wards and/or branches (congregations). These have larger dedicated areas within a stake center building, or other building, for the use of the FHC. These larger FHCs have dedicated book, microfilm, and microfiche areas. They have six or more computers with phone line, cable, or satellite Internet access, family history software, and often offer the institutional version of ''Ancestry.com'', ''Fold3.com'', and some other paid-access sites. All have microfilm or microfiche readers, but no longer have the ability to receive film/fiches from the Salt Lake City FHL. Most have local area family history material, but are not "Library Class" facilities.

Regional FamilySearch Libraries

The "Regional FamilySearch Libraries" of the Salt Lake City Family History Library are considered "

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

class" facilities. Each has a dedicated internal

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...

and a library catalogs or card catalogs or online catalog for its collection. In 2010, the ''regional branch libraries were re-designated as "Large Multi-Stake FHCs"'' on the ''FamilySearch.org'' website. However a supplement to the ''Family History Center Operations Guide'' dated January 5, 2006, renamed these FHCs officially. Supervision of these facilities is under each area presidency or assigned to a member of the Presidency of the Seventy. These facilities are still considered branches of the Salt Lake City central library and often have book collections in the thousands, microfilm and microfiches in the tens of thousands, dozens of Internet-connected computers, microfilm and microfiche readers, and some digital scanners. All have dedicated servers with DSL, cable or T-1 Internet access. In addition, all had at least one multi-use classroom, and several research areas.Family History Center Operations Guide, Supplement for Large Multistake Family History Centers, dated January 5, 2006, produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. These branch libraries have a dedicated unpaid full-time director or a pair of directors (usually a husband-wife team) and dozens of volunteer staff members. In many cases non-church member volunteers from the community serve. Local genealogy groups often support these library facilities to the extent that the centers see non-LDS patron usage higher than local LDS usage. While the LDS Church has renamed most of them, some legacy websites reflect older names.

BYU Family History Library

The

BYU Family History Library The BYU Family History Library (FHL) is located in the Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. It is one of the Family History Centers devoted to assisting library patrons in genealogical research. I ...

is part of the

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gran ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

(BYU) in Provo, Utah. The BYU Family History Library was one of the original planned FHCs and is the largest Family History Center outside of Salt Lake City. It was formerly known as the Utah Valley Regional Family History Center. It is now semi-independent of the LDS FHC system.

FamilySearch Library

In June 2010, the LDS Church closed down many smaller FHCs in the Salt Lake Valley and opened the Riverton FamilySearch Library, a misnomer, since the facility has no books and no magazines, having computers only. Whether this will be a trend for future FHCs is not known. The Riverton FamilySearch Library in Riverton, Utah has a Family Story Room available for use to record ancestor and family stories with state-of-the-art audio and video technology.

History

The Salt Lake City Genealogical Library was founded in 1894 to gather genealogical records and assist members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with their family history and genealogical research. It is the largest library of its kind in the world. It is open to the general public at no charge. The Family History Library is visited by an estimated 1,900 or more individual patrons each day. By 1975 there were 17 "branch libraries" around the world. The library collection has 2.4 million rolls of Family History Library microfilmed genealogical records and more than 742,000 microfiches in the main system. In 2003, the collection increased monthly by an average of 4,100 rolls of film, 700 books, and 16 electronic resources. A majority of the records contain information about persons who lived before 1930. Approximately 200 cameras are currently microfilming records in more than 45 countries. Records have been filmed in more than 110 countries, territories, and possessions. The first Family History Center (FHC), then called a branch genealogical library, was organized in the

Campus in May, 1964. Plans to organize family history centers in

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the most populous city in the East Valley section of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is bordered by Tempe on the west, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Communit ...

Logan, Utah Logan is a city in Cache County, Utah, United States. The 2020 census recorded the population was 52,778. Logan is the county seat of Cache County and the principal city of the Logan metropolitan area, which includes Cache County and Franklin ...

Cardston, Alberta Cardston is a town in Alberta, Canada. It was first settled in 1887 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who travelled from Utah, via the Macleod-Benton Trail, to present-day Alberta in one of the century ...

, and

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...

, each adjacent to a temples in one of those cities, had been announced at the 1963 October General Conference. The Family History Centers were put under the overall direction of Archibald F. Bennett. By December, 1964, there were 29 FHCs, and by 1968, there were 75. In 1987, these institutions were renamed "Family History Centers."

Familysearch.org databases

The Ancestral File database contains more than 36 million names that are linked into families. The International Genealogical Index database contains approximately 600 million names of deceased individuals. An addendum to the International Genealogical Index contains an additional 125 million names. These names have been patron-submitted or extracted from thousands of original birth, christening, and marriage records. The Pedigree Resource File database contains more than 80 million names that are linked into families. Records from the United States, Canada, the British Isles, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa, are available. The Social Security Death Index represents millions who were in the US Social Security system before death. A majority of the records contain information about persons who lived before 1930. Census records from the 1880 United States Federal Census and from the 1881 British & Canadian censuses are available. A Vital Records Index presents thousands of names for Mexico and Scandinavia only. Approximately 200 cameras are currently microfilming records in more than 45 countries. Records have been filmed in more than 110 countries, territories, and possessions. In 2003, the collection increased monthly by an average of 4,100 rolls of film, 700 books, and 16 electronic resources.

Digitization and indexing projects

In the late 1990s, a "pilot program" to update familysearch.org and digitize its entire collection was started using volunteers to input or "index" census and other data. This new genealogical index is considered an upgrade. It is a work in progress representing 426 regions around the world. Millions of new names have been input by volunteers and volunteers for the project are being actively solicited at FamilySearchIndexing.org. The searchable database containing the digital images and index will be available through the LDS Church's

FamilySearch FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization and website offering genealogical records, education, and software. It is operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and is closely connected with the church's Family His ...

website.

References

External links

FamilySearch.org
for information on family history centers *
Family History Library Official Site
*
Family History Library, Salt Lake City

Family History Library research wiki
*
A complete list of all Family History Centers worldwide
*
New York FHCs
representing ward, stake and other Family History Centers in New York. *
Los Angeles Family History Library
formerly known as the "Los Angeles Regional Family History Center" is now designated as the "Los Angeles FamilySearch Library" by the LDS Church, but is not referred to in that way by its supporting genealogical organizations and patrons (either LDS Church members or non-members). Click on this link to see that "Los Angeles Family History LIBRARY" is etched in stone at the library entrance!
Regional FamilySearch Libraries
The list of the 15 Regional FamilySearch Libraries.
FamilySearch Indexing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Family History Center (Lds Church) Genealogy and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Genealogical libraries in the United States History centers Properties of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Latter Day Saint church buildings