Books, Books and more Books . . .

Over the years, our library has grown by leaps and bounds, primarily through donations from members and others. We have received many book and CD collections, as well as individual books and CDs. This is what keeps us growing and better able to serve our patrons. Our budget for books is quite insignificant compared to your gifts so our growth depends on an active solicitation program.

Many of our members possess fairly extensive collections of genealogy and history books pertaining to the area or families they are researching. Some have promised that the books will be donated “when I’m done with them.” Others have mentioned that the disposition of books will be included in their final bequest.

If you are considering leaving any portion of your personal genealogy library to the SCGS, please take another look at your personal needs and consider moving up the disposition of your collection. This will allow many other family researchers to benefit from your generosity and goodwill now. And remember that if your tax situation allows it, you may be entitled to a contribution deduction for the fair market value of the books donated. What could be more pleasant than donating to one of your favorite organizations and having Uncle Sam help pay for part of it?

Please address the following:

• Please review your holdings with a view toward donating genealogy books, maps, CDs or other resources.


• In your travels to other areas of the country, if you visit other genealogy or historical societies and find books or reference materials that might be of interest to our patrons, consider buying and donating them. Many of the smaller societies publish but do not have very active marketing programs so we might never get to see these items except through your generosity.


• To supplement what you donate from your personal libraries, be on the lookout at garage sales, estate sales and swap meets for books of any type that you might be able to pick up for next to nothing or talk the owner into donating to us.


• If you frequent used or antique bookstores and discover expensive genealogy books, ask the owners if they would consider donating those books to the SCGS for a potential tax write-off.


• Of particular interest are city and county directories, church histories, family histories and genealogies, school yearbooks, Bible records, census indexes, vital record transcriptions, and maps.

Clean off your shelf! Clean out your closet! Clean out the garage! Gather all the books you can find to donate and give us a call. If you cannot deliver them, call the SCGS and we will work with you to arrange a pickup within a reasonable distance.

On behalf of all of the Society members, thank you for your consideration. You can assist in making your library one of the finest in the country.