A Library Tribute ...

Lori Thornton mentioned that this week is Library Appreciation Week in the United States, and as a way to commemorate this week with posts in tribute to libraries. I thought I would also write a post as a tribute to a library, and one library that I want to write in tribute is the Library of Michigan. Why? The Library of Michigan has a large number of books and records that are very essential and useful for genealogists and researchers, especially for doing Michigan research. (I should also state the the State Archives of Michigan is also a valuable repository for records. Both the library and archives are in the same building, the Michigan Historical Center.)

I like the Library of Michigan primarily because I can access records of different Michigan counties at the same time. I don't have to make multiple trips in the summer to different places for vital records only, or for the 1884 and 1894 state censuses. Plus, I can look up newspapers from different counties in the same place. It is more convenient for me. Of course, I should state that I can't view all the records I need. If I need to look for land or probate records, I need to go to the counties where those records are held. Also, I can't view marriages that occurred before 1867. I would have to go to the county where I believed the marriage occurred. (That is, if that county recorded marriages before 1867. Not all of the counties in Michigan that exist today, existed back in 1867.)

All in all, though, I like doing research at the Library of Michigan. Of course, I should state that I always go with family members, so I always someone to help me look up records, thereby covering more in the time I'm there.