Marshall, IL-(Effingham Radio)- Marshall Public Library staff and City workers have been busy hauling genealogy and historical collections from the Clark County Genealogy Library (CCGL) to the Marshall Public Library in recent weeks. Nearly a year ago the CCGL and Marshall Library began talks of moving the collection due to significant genealogy library building deterioration. As of June 12th, all collections have been successfully moved and are available to the public in the library’s Activity Room, now home to the new Genealogy and Historical Collections Department.
The CCGL began under the Clark County Historical Society’s charter in 1971. In 1974 they remodeled and moved into the concrete block garage behind the Historical Society Museum house on the corner of 4th and Maple Streets, and the dedication was held in 1975. This was the first bicentennial project in central Illinois. The society members secured their own charter in 1979. The volunteers soon filled the building with family histories, resource books, and copies of county birth, death and marriage records for Clark County and many other counties in Illinois and surrounding states. Finally, in 1996 a move was made to much larger quarters in the former Marrs Furniture store on Locust Street. The building was purchased for $1.00, and the Rotary Club gave the first $100.00 to help get them established. Many other individuals contributed bookshelves and other items to help furnish the building and to help increase the number of services they were able to provide. The first librarian was Mazie Garver. Other notable women who gave of their time to keep the library operating and assist those who were interested in preserving their family history were Betty Turner, Velma Remlinger, Rosalie Wirey, and Dalanne Miller. Mrs. Miller, who served for the last 25 years, has been the main curator and librarian for the collection. Mrs. Miller says: “I am relieved to know the materials will remain in a secure location for future generations and reassured knowing that the Marshall Public Library staff are committed to maintain the materials. The passing of the baton will allow me to spend more time with our grandsons, and after helping curate the collection for over 25 years, it is time for me to slow down a bit.”
The past 20 years the Marshall Public Library has been collecting and digitizing local history through Marshall newspapers, interviews and photos. With the addition of the CCGL collections preservation will go beyond the Marshall city limits and will include county records detailing 20,000 added county newspapers such as the Clark County Democrat, Casey Daily Reporter, Martinsville Planet; Clark County Daily Chronicle, and more. Digitization of these records is thanks to the generous support of the Clark County Historical Society. Highlights of print materials will include 1800 volumes of family histories, cemetery records and maps, census data, churches and schools by township, wills, birth and death records, town histories and more.
Hard numbers are difficult to come by, but hobby experts believe that genealogy ranks second only to gardening as America’s favorite pastime and the uptick in genealogy enthusiasts visiting the library indicates this is true. This, coupled with Marshall Library’s passion for historic preservation, is why the Library decided to take on the collection. The acquisition of the genealogy and historical collections however has taken a portion of the library’s main floor creating the need for additional library space says Director, Alyson Thompson. A new space will be added to the second floor of the library which will be accessible with the installation of an elevator. Once construction is complete, the library plans to hold a series of educational programs on how to do family and local history research. It is the library’s long term goal to digitize all historic collections.
The collection is open to the public during regular Library hours: Monday – Wednesday 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, Thursday 10:00 am to 8:00 pm and Friday and Saturday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. For specific genealogy inquiries please email Head Librarian, Jamie Poorman at jpoorman@marshallplib.com. The library is located at 612 Archer Avenue, in Marshall, Illinois, and is handicap accessible.
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