Richardson Texas FamilySearch Center

Directors

Our Directors: Elder Marcy Edward Lopez and Sister Sonia Lopez

Address

4195 Camino Del Rio South
San Diego, California 92108

Telephone: 619-584-7668 or 619-584-ROOTS

Our E-mail:  Ca_sanfiego@ldsmail.net

Past names of the facility

This facility has been designated in the past as;

San Diego Family History Library

San Diego Family History Center

San Diego Regional Genealogical Library

Hours and holidays

We are open ...
'Tuesday, Friday & Saturday 10AM to 3PM'
'Wednesday & Thursday 10AM to 9PM'

We are closed Sunday and Monday ...
We will be closed on the following dates in 2010:
'... October 2, November 23-27, December 21 to January 2, 2011'

Location

We are located in San Diego at 4195 Camino Del Rio South on the east side of the building with ample free parking. We are located across the street from the Penske Truck Rental Center.
Google Map here
Our GPS location: 32.777407,-117.103357

• For the San Diego MTS - bus public transportation information: Route 18 here.
  The closest bus stop is located at 4141 Camino Del Rio South, about 225 feet west of the Church parking lot.

 
Our Patron Resources

• 36 patron computers • 32 microfilm readers • 8 microfiche readers • 2 microfilm/microfiche printers • 2 digital microfilm/microfliche scanners with 8x10 inch paper scanner attachment with dedicated printers • 5 multi-use printers & copy machines • Orientation, research and classroom areas • T-1 internet and server • Internet paid connections to Ancestry.com & Footnote.com institutional versions.

Our Personnel

• We have 35 Family History Library Consultants to assist you. Many are bi-lingual. These volunteers donate their time and some specialize in the following areas:

•Spanish Research

•British Reference

•German Research

•DNA Research

•New Family Search

Library Background

• The San Diego California Multistake Center is a branch library of the Salt Lake City Genealogical Library which was founded in 1894 to gather genealogical records and assist members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with their family history and genealogical research. The main SLC Library is the largest library of its kind in the world • We are open to the general public at no charge • The SLC Library is visited by an estimated 1,900 or more individual patrons and groups each day. Our branch library is much more modest.

Records Collection

• While the San Diego FHL has only about 38,000 microfilm rolls, through the inter-library loan system, we have access to the SLC library collection of 2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical records.
In our branch libary we have about 76,000 of the 742,000 microfiche in the main system.
We have about 11,000 books, serials and magazines.
We have about 420 FHL and FamilyTree Maker (FTM) compac discs (CDs).

• Our computers access the Ancestral File database contains more than 36 million names that are linked into families. • The International Genealogical Index database contains approximately 600 million names of deceased individuals. An addendum to the International Genealogical Index contains an additional 125 million names. These names have been patron submitted or extracted from thousands of original birth, christening and marriage records. • The Pedigree Resource File database contains over 80 million names that are linked into families. • Records available are from the United States, Canada, the British Isles, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. • In 2003, the collection increased monthly by an average of 4,100 rolls of film, 700 books, and 16 electronic resources. • A majority of the records contain information about persons who lived before 1930. • Approximately 200 cameras are currently microfilming records in over 45 countries. Records have been filmed in over 110 countries, territories, and possessions.

Online Resources

• FamilySearch is the online web site which hosts:  • The Ancestral File. • The International Genealogical Index.  • The Pedigree Resource File database.  • US Social Security Death Index  • Vital Records Index  • 1880 United States • 1881 British Isles • 1881 Canadian Census

• Record Search is a pilot web site hosting many more databases that have been indexed through the FamilySearch Indexing program, including censuses, vital, church, military, and land records from around the world. 

• The Family History Library Catalog online catalog describing the library's holdings.

Donations

Gifts of family histories, organized collections, and other records that contain genealogical information are welcome. For example, you can write a history of your family and donate a copy to the Family History Library. When you donate an item, you can indicate that you would like the item microfilmed, as well. Guidelines and instructions on how to donate are on our Web site.

Guides

• Johni Cerny, and Wendy L. Elliott, The Library: a Guide to the LDS Family History Library (Salt Lake City: Ancestry Pub., 1988) [FHL Book 979.2258 A3Li].
• J. Carlyle Parker, Going to Salt Lake City to Do Family History Research, 3rd ed. (Turlock, Calif.: Marietta Pub., 1996) [FHL Book 979.2258 J5p 1996].

Family History Centers

• Family history centers (FHC) are branches of the Family History Library. • Over 4,000 family history centers operate in more than 88 countries. • Local family history centers are staffed by helpful volunteers. • About 100,000 rolls of microfilm are circulated to family history centers each month.

• There are three basic types of FHCs.  The Ward FHCs are the smallest in scale located in local Church buildings. The Stake FHC (covering the area of several Wards) are slightly larger. The Large Multi-Stake FHCs usually have a larger collection of computers, books, films and resources. These are often referred to as "Library class" and "Regional Branch Libraries" of the Salt Lake City Family History Library.  

• Click here to locate the nearest family history center, in your area, or call 866-406-1830 in the United States and Canada.

Local Resources in the San Diego Area

• The Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD) provides a list of area resources and Genealogy Organizations and Societies in the San Diego area.  The CGSSD also provides a local news letter.
• The San Diego Genealogical Society has a genealogical library of over 9,000 books. This includes many copyrighted books that will not be digitized in the ongoing effort by the Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
• The California State Archives and Libraries provides access to California births, marriages and death records.
• The San Diego County Library system has an area of computer genealogical support within the 33 branches of the County Library system.
• The San Diego Public Library system has a large Genealogical Section in its main Library downtown and computer genealogical support in all of its 35 City Library branches. 

Alternate Repositories

If you cannot find a source you need at the Family History Library, try one or more of these other repositories.

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 (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, LDS history 1830-now: diaries, manuscripts, Church records, photos, oral history, architectural drawings, pamphlets, newspapers, periodicals, maps, microforms, audiovisual material
  
• Daughters of Utah Pioneers, SLC, 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, SLC, family histories, photographs, books, manuscript collections, telephone directories, maps, newspapers, yearbooks, and periodicals are available in the Research Center and online.