I don't think we can separate our search for family history from access to the repositories into which records have been entrusted ... The State Library has become a political football ... not by our doing. Copies of many of the family and county or city histories that have been written are the result of research in both the State Library and the State Archives. When the Library and Archives split into two separate state entities about 20 years ago, many of the books about the states out of which our forebears came went to the Library collection. We all take a deep breath when we hear that some "old" local records are being destroyed to make room. I know I do. And being in Tallahassee, I will miss the books on Virginia, Maryland, and the Carolinas when they go to Fort Lauderdale.