I live in WA state and have not been able to get to Crawford co yet, but it has been my number one dream, and I hope that this issue can be worked out to accommodate both parties. All of my roots are there in Crawford co...the Isaac Wright Collins/ Margaret Bennett line...and although Dale and Florence Collins are there on the spot so to speak, i do feel that fresh eyes and a different outlook may come up with something new, which is my goal on this line. I have memberships in the county historical societys of 3 eastern states, and was hoping to include Crawford co next time i am able to join another Society. Washington state is a recent history move for my family(1900) and so i really need all the resources available from other states. There is another idea that may help get staffing... High school students as researchers for high school credits and free research technique training... it has worked here in WA very well, plus it keeps costs down for people needing free or very low cost research help. My niece is a perfect example of the sense of the program. she is a sophomore in high school going for a 2 year college degree concurrently with finishing her high school credits, in a program called running start. I think all college bound students should be required to so some kind of genealogy research , because the benefits are far reaching in many careers , since the correct research techniques really make a difference in how efficient a task gets done. my niece helped me over the summer with research and computer word processing, and it made all the difference to me, and she learned more history than just family lines, a living vital history that applied to her people, and she became proficient in knowing where to research and how to get the info needed from obscure sources. she also learned a lot about analytical thinking , lineal projection, cause and effect, and creative research. Her mother also felt that the experience was positive in the extreme. My nephew ( from another sister) has just begun to take over, and he is a freshman in HS, and we are so far having the same results with him, possibly even more so, because he is a methodical person to begin with, which my niece was not. The CCHS can go to the high school, give a talk, show examples, show the possible benefits to students, and do a pilot program with volunteers to see if it is a viable program in your area. Our history shows us how we got to be not only where we are, but WHO we are. I for one think that is important in considering goals for the future, and since I have been working on genealogy I have been able to overcome a lot of genetic and social conditioning, because of the diversity of my near and far ancestors . I wish Crawford co all the very best in working out this issue. P.S. IL has a similar program using IRAD and College student researchers, and it also works well, and is extremely cost efficient. OR uses students as library interns for credits and free research in some places. This also works for genealogy because OR has many Oregon trail questions on a daily basis, as a required state study for students. gloria lange rodas- WA state. ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.