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Show ; Genealogical records LDS Family History Library l world's largest collection ; By QUI(; NIELSEN ' Founded in 1894 by early Mormon pioneers who envisioned the need for keeping, compiling and tracing " family records, the Family History Library now has the world's largest collection of genealogical records. Located in downtown Salt Lake City, the library is " open to the general public at no charge. A distinguished Korean diplomat visited the library recently to present important records from his country. During his visit, librarians checked the microfilm to determine just what Korean records had been previously previous-ly received. Everyone, including the Korean dignitary, was surprised to see his family genealogy already on the library microfilm. Some of the most difficult records to find and to acquire ac-quire are those of the Irish. Sometime ago, a gentleman named O'Brien visited the library and was startled to see his family genealogy included in the few Irish records. The library is dedicated to acquiring and preserving the records of mankind, many of which still he secreted in vaults, archives, sheds, attics and cellars throughout the world. Founders of the library wanted to save the records from time, weather and other destructive forces. Master copies of the microfilm rolls are now protected pro-tected and stored in the Granite Mountain Records Vault in a mountain southeast of Salt Lake City. The library, whose name was changed from 'Genealogy" to "Family History" in 1987, has grown steadily until it now occupies a new building with five floors and is so constructed that an additional three floors can be added. The library collection grows by approximately 5 000 rolls of film and 1,000 books per month. The International Genealogical Index (IGI) data base contains over 145 million names and grows by seven million names per year. About 1,400 branch Family History Centers are now m 51 countries with 50,000 rolls of microfilm circulated cir-culated to these centers each month. Does the center have your family genealogy? Source; LDS Family History Library. Quig Nielsen is an information officer for the Museum of Church H istory and Art in Salt Lake City. |