Family History Libraries

The Family History Library is located in Salt Lake City, Utah. It provides access to the world’s largest collection of genealogical records, including the names of more than 2 billion deceased people.

This is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; this organization was founded in 1894. It is used to gather genealogical records and assist church members in tracing their family histories. They have master copies of more than three million records collected by the church that are stored in the Granite Mountain storage facility, a massive vault built literally into a mountainside about 25 miles from downtown Salt Lake City. To be able to get the information you are looking for, you don’t have to make a trip to Utah to use the resources of this library. The Family History Library has a vast system of over 3,400 branch libraries, known as Family History Centers, which are located throughout the world to help people search for the records of their ancestors. They operate in 64 countries and more than 100,000 rolls of microfilm that are circulated to the centers each month. These records include vital, census, land, probate, immigration, and church records, as well as many other records of genealogical values. The use of any of the Family History Centers is free, and the public is welcome. Church and community volunteers are on hand to answer questions and lend assistance.

The Latter-day Saints believe that families are eternal and encourage members to identify their deceased ancestors. They just want to share the family history information they have collected with people of all faiths.