Monday, February 15, 2016

RootsTech 2016 ~ Tour of the Church History Library

Church History Library
Photo Courtesy of the Church History Library


On Tuesday, February 2, 2016, I had the amazing opportunity to tour the Church History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was a "behind-the-scenes" group tour and was one of the opportunities I was given as a RootsTech 2016 Ambassador.

First, we gathered in the beautiful lobby.

Church History Library Lobby
Photo Courtesy of the Church History Library

We were given special badges and were taken to the Reference Area. There are lockers in this area for patrons to store their coats, etc.

Church History Library Reference Area
Photo Courtesy of the Church History Library

We returned to the lobby and were taken downstairs. Our tour guide was Keith A. Erekson, Director of the Church History Library.

Church History Library Vault
Photo Courtesy of the Church History Library

Our group was able to see the vault area and the book preservation room. We were also taken to a conference room and were shown how different types of media are preserved.

We were taken back upstairs to the Reference Area and were shown the Foundations of Faith Exhibit, which contains rare and special documents from the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including an Egyptian papyrus fragment dated from the second century B.C.

Foundations of Faith Exhibit
Photo Courtesy of the Church History Library

Foundations of Faith Exhibit
Photo Courtesy of the Church History Library

The Foundations of Faith Exhibit is also available online at the following link:

Foundations of Faith online exhibit

The Church History Library is also a wonderful resource for family historians.

Church History Library Computers in the Reference Area
Photo Courtesy of the Church History Library

The Church History Library has a website that includes a searchable catalog. Search their databases and see what you find by clicking HERE. I did a search and found my husband's grandfather's name in the Early Mormon Missionaries Database.


The information for Charles lists his birth date and place and his parents' names. How cool is that? We already have this information, but if we hadn't, this would be a priceless genealogical find.

The Church History Library has a YouTube Channel which has many videos including a video about the purpose of the library, a video about the Foundations of Faith Exhibit, and even videos about how to properly handle and preserve items such as books, electronic media, textiles, etc.


To learn more about the Church History Library, click on the link below.

Church History Library

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2016 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

4 comments:

  1. Would be interesting to see something like that over here in the UK

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    Replies
    1. Hi Bill,

      If you happen to visit Salt Lake City, please stop by and visit this beautiful library. Until then, thankfully they have online databases to search. Thanks for stopping by! :)

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  2. That looks like a really great tour to go on. I wish we had the opportunity to do that as a family. This kind of tour is on my wife's bucket list and she has been telling me about it for many years now. Maybe when the kids are out of the house we can get time to do it.

    Carson Coronado @ Old St. Mary's Detroit

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Carson,

      I hope you get a chance to tour the Church History Library in the future. And if you do, please make sure to visit Temple Square. It's a gorgeous place to visit. Thanks for stopping by! :)

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