Judie, for those of us who live outside the area, are there volunteers or researchers for fee who will help us with the materials at the library? I personally have no chance of getting to the library but my family was in Chicago in the 1860s. What does the Society offer to residents outside of the Chicago area? (Some I know, but some should be mentioned here.) Many thanks for your response. Elaine > Ron & Betty Mlejnek <rm62759@windstream.net> wrote: > > CSAGSI has not been much help in the past. I > have had better "luck" with individuals who live in Chicago. > ron > > Dear Ron, > > Yes, I agree, the list members from the > Chicago area (actually country wide) are very > informative and go out of there way to be > helpful. However, I'm surprised and > disappointed to hear you say CSAGSI has not been > much help in the past. Would you mind telling > me in what way the organization was not helpful > and what they could do to be more helpful in the future? > > CSAGSI has a free library open once a month > for nine months manned by volunteers who provide > genealogical research guidance, and document > translations when a translator is available. > Please note, I stated research > guidance........the organization does not do > research for you. The library is a treasure > trove of Czech, Slovak and Chicago > history.........mostly donations from CSAGSI > members. In addition to the library, there are > five informative, free meetings held throughout > the year along with an annual conference in > March. There is a fee for the conference which > pays for the buffet meal provided. > > This dedicated organization, all volunteers I > might add, has indexed the Denni Hlasatel > newspaper obituaries, Zlata Kniha (Svornost > Anniversary Book), St. Procopius Death records > and is in the process of translating the book > "Czechs in Chicago" and indexing the interment > records of Bohemian National Cemetery which will > be available on disc when this monumental task has been completed. > > I'm sorry to have made this posting so long > but, this organization is very dear to my heart > and I couldn't let a negative comment pass without responding. > > Judie Mason > Chicago > >