FamilySearch Library

United States Utah Archives and Libraries Family History Library

Guide to FamilySearch Library ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Welcome to the Family History Library page What's New New Service As an added convenience to our guests, flash drives and earphones will be sold in the copy card vending machines on each floor, starting on May 1st. The vending machines accept cash or credit cards. New Guest Services Model The reference areas on the B1 International floor, the B2 British floor, and the U.S./Canada 2nd floor have been remodeled. Need help? Ask someone with a blue lanyard for help with research. Ask someone with a red lanyard for collection questions. Look for these lanyards: For research help For collection help To prevent wasting your time standing in line waiting for research assistance, we have implemented a paging system to connect you with the needed expertise. Facebook: Website Address: Family History Library 35 North West Temple Street Salt Lake City, Utah 84150-3400 Telephones: 1 801-240-6996 Classes, Hours, Parking: 1 801-240-6536 Lost and Found: 1 801-240-5624 Group Reservations: 1 801-240-4673 World Wide Support Research Help: 1-801-240-2584 Hours: Normal Hours of Operation Mon: 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Tues-Fri: 8:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. Sat: 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Sun: Closed Holidays: Click here Maps: Google Map; MapQuest. Parking and Transportation: Parking can be an issue in downtown Salt Lake City. The following parking is available in the area: Free: Parking lot behind the Church History Museum Monday to Friday, 4:30-9 pm; all day Saturday Limitations: Closed during Conference Center events, and from the day after Thanksgiving to January 2nd. Parking subject to availability. Pay: For a Family History Library area pay-parking lots map click here. Pricing is subject to change and is not controlled by the Family History Library. As of July 16, 2013 the following fees apply: Salt Palace Parking a maximum of $12.00 per day. Lot on the northwest corner of North Temple is $2 under 1 hr, $5 under 2 hrs, $8 under 12 hrs The JSMB underground parking is a flat rate of $10. Public Transportation: For FrontRunner (commuter rail), TRAX (light rail), and bus public transportation information see the Utah Transit Authority Internet site. Library Resources Class Schedule and Online Webinars Attend classes in person in the Family History Library or view some of them online as a Webinar. Click on the month to see a list of all classes. All classes and webinars are free to the public. View the following schedules using Google Chrome, or Internet Explorer. They may NOT appear using a Mozilla Firefox browser. October, 2015 November, 2015 Click the link to view handouts for the webinars. Click the link to view past webinars. Collection Description Largest genealogical collection in the world—it is especially strong for the United States, British Isles, Scandinavia, Mexico, and parts of Germany, but also has material from all parts of the world. Includes civil vital births, marriages, and deaths, church records, county and local histories, court records, military records, probate records, American passenger arrival lists and naturalizations, and land records. The large microfilm and book collections are being digitized and are showing up on the FamilySearch Internet site. Subscriptions websites available at the Family History Library Click the link Subscriptions websites at the FHL link to see what is accessible at the Library.  Guest Resources Over 500 public guest computers Over 300 microfilm readers 36 microfiche readers 27 digital microfilm and microfiche copiers (to paper or to flash drive) 3 HD book scanners 14 book copiers (to paper or to flash drive) Seating capacity for 375 at tables Orientation and research classes Donations Gifts of family histories, autobiographies, biographies, indexes, local histories, and well-organized collections of genealogy research are welcome. If you own the copyright, you can indicate that you would like the item digitized for the Internet. More details about donations. Donations Guidelines. If you have questions about donations please contact: Book Donations Telephone: 1-801-240-1855E-mail: bookdonations@familysearch.org Request a "Vault Film" before Visiting Films in the "Vault" take several days to reach the Family History Library. If the Catalog shows a film is in the vault, order it ahead of time so it will be at the Library when you arrive. For details see Order Process. Personnel Currently about 30 full-time and part-time professional staff Approximately 600 trained volunteers British Research Consultants Directory International Research Consultants Directory United States and Canada Research Consultants Directory Plan Group Visits Click the link to review the Group visit options and make a reservation. Library Rules Click the link Library Rules to see the up-to-date rules in the Family History Library. FHL Visitors Describe Their Experiences Video Tour: Family History Library -- recorded by Geni.com staff (February 2010) Another Item Crossed Off My Bucket List, or Is It? - by Jill Ball (visited in February 2010) Visiting the SLC: Days 1 & 2 of posts by Randy Seaver (visited in Jan 2009) How to Prepare to Visit the Family History Library Request A Vault Film before Visiting the Family History Library What Gives With FamilySearch? The Rest of the Story (Sep 2011) - Valerie provides an in-depth blog post about the volunteers in the FHL.  Salt Lake City Library: Ready, Set Go! - by Lorine McGinnis Schulze A Fresh Look at the Family History Library - A Library without Walls - by Alan E. Mann, Manager at FamilySearch, presented at NGS 2010 Conference FamilySearch Centers FamilySearch Centers are branches of the Family History Library Over 4,500 family history centers operate in more than 100 countries Local FamilySearch Centers are staffed by helpful volunteers About 100,000 rolls of microfilm are circulated to family history centers each month. Click here to locate a nearby family history center, or call 1 866-406-1830 in the United States or Canada. Click here for the map-based locator. Alternate Repositories If you cannot find a source you need at the Family History Library, a similar source may be available at one of the following. Repositories with very large genealogical collections Library of Congress, Washington, DC, Local History and Genealogy Reading Room is part of the world's largest library including 50,000 genealogies, 100,000 local histories, and collections of manuscripts, microfilms, maps, newspapers, photographs, and published material, strong in North American, British Isles, and German sources. National Archives I, Washington DC, census, pre-WWI military service & pensions, passenger lists, naturalizations, passports, federal bounty land, homesteads, bankruptcy, ethnic sources, prisons, and federal employees. Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana, home of the Periodical Source Index (PERSI), more than 350,000 printed books and 513,000 items of microfilm/fiche including family histories, censuses, city directories, passenger lists, military records, local histories, American Indians, African Americans, Canadian, British, & German collections. Repositories with significant Latter-day Saint collections Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, LDS history 1830-now: diaries, manuscripts, Church records, photos, oral history, architectural drawings, pamphlets, newspapers, periodicals, maps, microforms, audiovisual material Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City, Utah, the Museum displays artifacts, and the History Department collects and preserves about 100,000 histories of pioneers who set out for, settled, or were born in Utah by 10 May 1869. Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah, family histories, photographs, books, manuscript collections, telephone directories, maps, newspapers, yearbooks, and periodicals are available in the Research Center and online. Neighboring repositories Brigham Young University Library, Provo, Utah, genealogy, history, census, Family History Center, digital family history. Salt Lake City Public Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, Utah newspapers on microfilm, and genealogical databases. Utah Vital Records Office, Salt Lake City, Utah, statewide births and deaths since 1905; marriages and divorces since 1978. Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah, newspaper, death, land, court, history, naturalization, military, directories, criminals. Utah State University, Logan, Utah, Special Collections and Archives local historical and biographical sources. University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, history, biography, newspapers, government documents, and Western Americana. United States District Court of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, federal court records. Salt Lake County Court, Salt Lake City, Utah, local court records. Salt Lake County Clerk, Salt Lake City, Utah, county marriages since 1887, probate records since 1852. Salt Lake County Recorder, Salt Lake City, Utah, property, tax, and military discharge DD-214 papers.

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)

To access available information, first log into FamilySearch.