04.22.07

online help to track down your family

Posted in News at 8:37 pm by Paloma Cruz

HIGH-TECH HELP FOR GENEALOGISTS
Online sites help family trees branch out
– reported by the Houston Chronicle

[snip]

For amateur genealogists, cyberspace has added a new dimension, one that helps them accomplish more in less time. As the number of online genealogy Web sites grows, so does the community that practices the hobby and so do the family trees they uncover.

[snip]

Researching a family tree used to be painfully slow and tedious. Amateurs could dig for months for paper records that promised to offer crucial facts about a relative’s life, sometimes finding nothing at all.

But with Web sites dedicated to genealogy, some free and others for a fee, novices can share techniques and connect with distant relatives they likely wouldn’t have found otherwise.

[snip]

Houstonians have great local resources to help in this search, the Houston Public Library’s Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research has “resources for Texas, other states and around the world.” Find them online at www.houstonlibrary.org/clayton.

04.03.07

Texas Book Festival passes $2M

Posted in News at 9:47 pm by Paloma Cruz

Texas Book Festival Exceeds $2 Million in Grants for Texas Public Libraries
– reported by the Houston Chronicle

Now, in its 12th year, the Texas Book Festival passed the $2 million mark in total grant funds awarded to Texas public libraries. In 2006 alone, the Texas Book Festival raised $200,000 and now those funds will be awarded to 60 libraries throughout the state.This year’s grant recipients will be announced on Friday, April 13th at the annual convention of the Texas Library Association in San Antonio.

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04.01.07

San Francisco delays opening new branches

Posted in News at 8:33 pm by Paloma Cruz

San Francisco Public Library Delays Five Branches
– reported by Library Journal

The San Francisco Public Library
(SFPL)’s ambitious $106 million branch renovation program, approved by
voters in 2000, is running out of money. Soaring construction costs
have caused the postponement of five branch projects, as the SFPL
Commission unanimously voted March 1 to use the $18 million dedicated
to these projects to instead help fund the completion of 11 other
branches.[snip]