Genealogy is Family Affair at Library's Heritage Festival

From Hillsborough County:

October is National Family History Month. If you’ve ever been curious about researching your family tree – or just need to fill in a few branches – the Florida History & Genealogy Library can point you in the right direction during its second, annual Family Heritage Festival on Saturday, Oct. 22.

From 10:15 a.m. to 5 p.m., fun, free activities for all ages will fill three floors of the John F. Germany Library’s West Building, 900 N. Ashley Drive, including:

• Speakers George G. Morgan and Drew Smith, nationally-recognized authors and lecturers known as “The Genealogy Guys”
• Meet and greet with experts from local history, lineage and genealogy societies
• Digital scanning of your prized ancestral documents and historic photos
• Musical entertainment by the Patel Conservatory Youth Group, Ovation!
• Heritage Poetry Slam and tales of old Florida
• A chance to create folk art with well-known local artist Mr. B
• Time capsule photo booth and a visit by a live mermaid

Located on the 2nd floor of the John F. Germany Library, the Florida History & Genealogy Library houses one of the largest genealogy collections in the southeastern United States. The collection is a treasure trove of vintage photographs, city directories, newspapers, site-specific maps, immigration records, church records, and genealogy books. Many of the rare resources aren’t available online – making the library a destination not just for visitors who want to trace their families’ history, but also Realtors, architects, property owners, and researchers.

The second, annual Family Heritage Festival is funded by the funded by the Friends of the John F. Germany Public Library. For more information, go to the Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative website.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay