Fort Wayne has the largest public collection of genealogy materials in the U.S. I was here in 1981 when I was only a year into researching my family history. I came here this year -- once in May and once in June -- to do a preliminary look at what is available in the library now.

Much has changed over the decades. Instead of closed stacks where patrons must request the books after searching the card catalog, everyone now has access to browse the many shelves of books.

The amount of material is huge. It can be overwhelming and a person can sometimes wonder where to start or where to look next. I certainly felt that way. And, if a person brings in a USB flash drive, it can be inserted into the copying machines and book pages can be scanned for free and written onto the flash drive. Very nice feature that took advantage of using.

The staff is super helpful. They provide a map of each major section of materials. They will answer your questions about what materials are available and how to use them or any of the equipment that the library provides.

This was my first stop in June on the way to New England. Only spent a Sunday afternoon here but it was well worth it. I spent over four hours scanning/copying four books that give much detail about the town of Lancasster MA. I have at least 24 different surnamea families that lived in Lancaster in the 1600's and 1700's. Copying that long was tiring but well worth it. I can now spent any amount of time going through those books. What a treasure!