Introduction to Family History Centers

Purpose

FamilySearch centers are locations around the world with unique services offered by FamilySearch. They are associated with the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah (United States). Their goal is to provide resources to assist you in the research and study of your genealogy and family history by:

• Giving free personal one-on-one assistance
• Providing free access to genealogical records through the Internet, including records that can only be accessed in centers
• Providing free access to subscription genealogy websites, including Ancestry, FindMyPast, MyHeritage, and many others
• Offering free access to computers, printers, and Internet in most locations

There are well over 5,000 FamilySearch centers around the world. Anyone with an interest in genealogical research is welcome to visit and use the provided services. The centers are operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Finding a FamilySearch Center

To find a location anywhere in the world, click on Find a FamilySearch Center. If you're searching for a center in the United States, type your city and state in the location fields, and click on "Submit".  If you're searching for a center outside the United States, enter the city and country.

Many FamilySearch centers have wiki pages. To find a center's wiki article, go to Category:FamilySearch Centers, select the desired Country and then the State or Province. Find the center on the list. FamilySearch center wiki articles may include information about a center's hours, contact information, services offered, research facilities, and classes.

Each center has unique hours of operation, and may have changed from the hours posted on our site.  It is a good idea to contact the center to confirm their scheduled hours before you visit.

Most FamilySearch centers are located in meetinghouse facilities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You do not have to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to make use of a FamilySearch center. Everyone is welcome to visit the centers and use their resources.

Visiting a FamilySearch Center

Centers are locally operated and supervised. The facilities and resources of the centers differ by location, and range from small and open only a few hours a week, to large centers open typical business hours with dozens of volunteers, computers, digital film readers, scanners, and printers to support the patrons’ use of extensive collections of books, periodicals, maps, microfilm and microfiche.

The centers are generally staffed by volunteer members of local congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as genealogy enthusiasts from the community who are not members of the church. Staff members are not paid for their services. More experienced volunteers may be able to assist patrons with specific research challenges.

Because the center hours, resources, and expertise of volunteer staff will vary widely, patrons with specific research questions may wish to call before visiting a center to find out who might be able to assist them, and the best time to visit.

One-on-one assistance

FamilySearch center staff can show you how to use the center’s resources. To make your visit most effective, collect and organize the information you already have. Bring as much information as you have about the ancestor you wish to research, including available birth, marriage and death information. Center staff can help you use that information to begin creating a Family Group Record

Genealogical records

FamilySearch offers billions of historical records on line. However, due to contract restrictions and other limitations, some additional records can only be made available in FamilySearch or affiliate facilities. Note that a browser extension is required to access these limited access records while in a FamilySearch Center.

Center staff can also help you search the FamilySearch Catalog, or you can search it yourself before visiting the center. The FamilySearch Catalog is a catalog of the holdings of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Most of those records were recorded onto microfilm and microfiche.

Subscription genealogy web sites

Centers offer free access to other genealogy websites that normally require subscriptions. A full list of the available sites can be found here. Visit FamilySearch Center Portal while at a center to access the available sites. Note that a browser extension is required to access these limited-access records while in a FamilySearch Center.

Computers, printers, and Internet

Computers, printers, and Internet access are available in most locations. Additional equipment such as scanners and recording devices are available in some centers. Actual available services vary by location.

FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries

FamilySearch affiliate libraries have privileges to limited-access FamilySearch databases. Public or university libraries, archives, and museums can become affiliate public libraries. Genealogical societies with a permanent building open to the public with staff available to assist can become affiliate public libraries as well.

Affiliate libraries have some limitations and may not have all the services of a family history center. There may be some FamilySearch Historical Records collections that may not be available.