Ogden FamilySearch Library expects boon
Judy Atwood works on family history at the Ogden Family History Center and is excited to get back to the newly rededicated Ogden Temple to continue work on her ancestors. Photo taken in Ogden on September 22, 2014.
Don Bateman of South Ogden goes through old floppy discs to recover any information and photos that might be lost to the outdated technology. Bateman used to work at the Family History Center, but now comes by about once a year to get caught up projects he is working on. Photo taken in Ogden on September 22, 2014.
The Family History Center is expecting an increase in visitors and ancestral work due to the newly reopened Ogden Temple. Photo taken in Ogden on September 22, 2014.
Mary Toebbe (standing) helps Anita Steinke research family history at the Ogden Family History Center in Ogden on September 22, 2014.
David Steinke (center) learns from Holly Proudfit how to use census information as a reference when searching for information about his family history at the Ogden Family History Center in Ogden on September 22, 2014.
The Family History Center is expecting an increase in visitors and ancestral work due to the newly reopened Ogden Temple. Photo taken in Ogden on September 22, 2014.
The Family History Center is expecting an increase in visitors and ancestral work due to the newly reopened Ogden Temple. Photo taken in Ogden on September 22, 2014.
OGDEN – The Ogden FamilySearch Library expects to see some more foot traffic with the Ogden Temple’s re-opening.
“We certainly hope more people will come and see what we have to offer here,” said volunteer family history specialist Gwen Heaton.
The Ogden location is the second largest Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints FamilySearch library, behind the Salt Lake City FamilySearch Library. There is a staff of 320 in two buildings with 150 computers in five different rooms.
There are teaching rooms and research rooms. The library also has huge scanning and cataloguing capabilities and is called upon to scan large amounts of information for different areas of the church in family history.
“We can catalogue it, scan it and stick it on the Internet so anyone who types in the name (we scanned) will see it when they search on familyhistory.org,” said library assistant director Stephen Felt. The name of the library has changed over the years, but it is now called the “Ogden FamilySearch Library.” Previously, the facility was called the Ogden Family History Center. “We all have centers at our stake. This is a library,” Felt said.
The library volunteers love their guests and saw over 1,080 youth last summer alone. Library volunteers are ready to teach classes to those who have been encouraged to take their own family names to the temple.
“We do expect more traffic. Bishops are taking clues from the General Authorities to find their own family names to take to the temple,” said Library Director Emil Hanson. He thinks those getting that encouragement will come into the library to be taught how to do the work.
“A small percentage of members use Family Tree because they don’t know how to manipulate it,” Hanson said. Family Tree is an enhancement to the church family research program FamilySearch, which allows people to collaborate with relatives across cyberspace, according to lds.org.
The library offers beginner and advanced classes on how to use Family Tree and other kinds of family history. Hanson encourages beginner family historians to take the free classes so they don’t become overwhelmed with all the information out there on family history work.
“It can be kind of tricky at first,” Hanson said. Many other classes also are offered, including a class on writing your own personal history and more advanced classes.
Hanson noted that while only about 1 to 2 percent of LDS church members are actively doing family history, the Ogden library is a pretty busy one with about 3,000 visitors each month.
Heaton encourages visitors because she loves the feeling at the library.
“I love the people I work with,” she said. “They are my friends and everyone is just happy to be here.”
She talked about one woman that drives from Logan to the Ogden library because she likes the feeling she gets at the Ogden site. “She has become a dear friend to me,” Heaton said.
And Heaton feels that way about many of the patrons of the library, as do others that volunteer there.
Heaton said the website, www.ogdenfsl.org, is a helpful tool to figure out what classes are available and to get up-to-date information on what is going on at the library. She said a newsletter, written by Hanson, also is very helpful in all ways. Hanson said those interested can just call the library at 801-626-1132 to sign up for classes or get information. The library is located at 539 East 24th Street.