ILCLINTO-L Archives

From: "Dorothy Falk" <>
Subject: [ILCLINTON] NGS Books to St. Louis
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 08:52:38 -0500

----- Original Message -----
From: "Cheryl Rothwell" <>
To: <>
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2001 8:46 AM
Subject: [IL-CENTRAL] NGS Books to St. Louis


The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy
Newsletter and is copyright 2001 by Richard W. Eastman. It is
re-published here with the permission of the author.

- NGS Library's Books To Be Relocated

Good news for genealogists outside of the Washington, D.C. area:
The U.S. National Genealogical Society is moving its library books
to the St. Louis County (Missouri) Library. This is a rather
drastic move but one that will dramatically increase the
availability of the books.

In the past, the National Genealogical Society's books were
available by in-person visit or by mail to NGS members. The St.
Louis County Library will do the same but also will make the books
available by Interlibrary Loan (ILL). Interlibrary Loan charges
are generally lower than the NGS' circulating library charges.
Also, one doesn't need to be an NGS member in order to obtain
books via Interlibrary Loan. The end result will be that many more
genealogists will have access to these books than ever before.

The change was the result of a near unanimous vote by the NGS
Council (one member dissenting) that was announced at the
Federation of Genealogical Society meeting in Iowa.

A few items will not be transferred to the St. Louis County
Library, including:

* Bible Collection
* American Medical Association's Deceased Doctors Card File
* Member Ancestor Charts (now being indexed by volunteers)
* Germans to America collection
* Hall of Fame material
* Rare books (old or brittle, limited editions, books with high
used-book market value that did not circulate)
* Manuscript and Reference Collections

On November 5, 2001, most of the 17,000+ volumes of the library
that formerly circulated to walk-in patrons and Library Loan users
will be shipped to the St. Louis County Library and housed there
permanently, to be available to the general public. The NGS book
collection was donated, not sold, to St. Louis Public Library
under provisions of a mutual agreement.

The agreement with the St. Louis County Library provides that they
will make the books acquired from NGS available to the general
public through Interlibrary Loan. This means that the cost of
ordering and delivering the books to patrons may be lower than
NGS' past library loan charges to members, but patrons' use of the
books will be subject to the receiving libraries' policies
regarding patron use of Interlibrary Loan materials.

The agreement also provides that NGS has 10 years in which to
repatriate its collection from St. Louis County Library if NGS
pays for handling and shipment.

There have been some negative remarks about the move on the
various message boards in the past few days, which is surprising
to me. Certainly the moving of the books is a drawback to those
living within easy driving distance to Arlington, Virginia. Those
people will no longer be able to drive to the NGS Library to use
the books. On the other hand, those in the St. Louis area will now
be within driving distance of these resources. What's more, with
the new lending terms, genealogists in all other parts of the
country will experience significantly improved ease of access to
these books.

Unlike the NGS, the St. Louis County Library has its card catalog
online. You can search for available books at:
http://www.slcl.lib.mo.us. You can search by title, author,
subject, keyword or call number. The NGS probably would not have
created that capability for several more years.

Unlike the NGS, the St. Louis County Library allows everyone to
order Interlibrary Loan of books online. Simply go to
http://www.slcl.lib.mo.us/ill/ill_book.htm to fill out your
request. (Remember that the NGS books have not been moved yet.
Don't try to order those volumes until early next year.)

The St. Louis County Library also provides online information
about books you have ordered and which ones you presently have
checked out. The St. Louis County Library also has more services
for those who are physically handicapped or housebound than the
NGS did. For local users, the St. Louis County Library will be
able to notify you via regular mail or by e-mail when materials
are available for pick up.

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• [ILCLINTON] NGS Books to St. Louis by "Dorothy Falk" <>