You can now get access to the popular genealogical web site Ancestry.Com at Beebe Library.

Ancestry.com is a subscription-based genealogy research website with over 5 billion records online and more being added almost daily. The majority of records are from the United States, although a growing number of records are being added for other countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and various European countries. Some of these records are free for anyone to access, but most are accessible only by paid subscription.

In 2006, Ancestry.com completed the indexing and scanning of all of the United States Federal Census records from 1790 through 1930. The site also includes access to the Social Security Death Index, passenger and immigration lists, military records, vital records (births, marriages, and deaths), and almost 500 million names in member-contributed family trees.

Ancestry.com was nominated for a 2007 CODiE Award in the “Best Online Consumer Information Service” category. The site was also used recently to show that ancestors of Al Sharpton were owned by relatives of the late Senator Strom Thurmond.

When using the site you’ll have access to a wide range of different types of historical records: census and voter lists; birth, marriage, and death records; passenger and immigration lists; military records; probate records; and even a large collection of online genealogy reference books. There are also downloadable forms for family trees, ancestry charts, and keeping track of your research and correspondence.

Ancestry.com is available from all of Beebe Library’s twenty-four public computers. Because of licensing restrictions from Ancestry.com, you cannot log in from your home computer.

The library also has a large collection of print sources for genealogical researchers, primarily focusing on Massachusetts and Wakefield in particular. We have military and county histories, histories of individual cities and towns in Massachusetts, vital records, annual town reports and lists of residents, high school yearbooks, and historic maps. There are also many books to help you get started in genealogy, with tips on where and how to search, and how to organize what you find.

For more assistance, contact the Reference Department at 781-246-6334 x2, or email@wakefieldlibrary.org.

Children’s Programs

On Friday, January 4 at 4:00 p.m., Greg McAdams will perform his magic show, Frosty’s Magic Birthday. Registration is required. To sign up for this event, call the library at 781-246-6334, ext. 3.

Story Times for four and five year-olds will resume Tuesdays at 11:00 a.m. and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. from January 8 through February 15.

Starcatchers Book Club, a reading group for boys in grades 5-8, will take place on Friday, January 11 at 4:00 p.m. Participants can read either Cell by Stephen King or The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper. Refreshments will be served.

Magazine Giveaway January 5

On Saturday, January 5, Beebe Library will offer its fifth annual magazine giveaway.

The public is invited to stop by the library between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to browse through a wide selection of magazines that are two years old or older. Take some home for reading during the upcoming snowstorms, or discover some ideas for home projects.

The library removes magazines that are more than two years old at the end of each year. The content of these magazines is still available through online magazine indexes that can be accessed on library computers and also from computers at your home.

Although the magazines are of little or no value, donations to the Friends of the Library will be accepted.

Beebe Library on Flickr

See library-related photos as well as lots of old photos and postcards from Wakefield’s historic past by visiting Beebe Library’s Flickr photo page.

Categories: Library News,Online Databases,Reference Collection
Tags: , Ancestry.com, databases, genealogy