Closed for the Winter

If you were planning on hibernating this winter in the stacks at Fort Wayne, Ind.’s Allen County Public Library, you may have to postpone your trip. The main library’s Historical Genealogy Department closed Dec. 14, 2002, and will remain closed the entire month of January 2003. The library is undergoing an $18.5 million renovation that will expand the facility and make improvements to the current building. Renaissance Square in downtown Fort Wayne will house the library and its valuable genealogy collection for about three years while construction is being completed.

The materials that make up the genealogy department will be available to researchers once the temporary quarters open. And the good news is that the stacks in the temporary library will be open for browsing — no need for call slips. An estimated 100,000 genealogists visit the main library each year. For more on all the Allen County Public Library has to offer, see our article in the October 2002 issue of Family Tree Magazine. Additional information about the library’s genealogy department is on its Web site <www.acpl.lib.in.us/genealogy>.