After I sent the notification about Pennsylvania library budgets being slashed 50%, Dick Musselman, a highly respected (at least by me!) Northampton County genealogist sent the following, alarming message: Northampton Co. may be facing a double whammy. The Northampton County Archives, probably the best county archives in the state, will be demolished later this year to make room for a prison expansion. The county appears to be taking a step that will make all the archived records much less accessible to the public. They have not announced a plan for any new archives facility. I suspect it will be at a remote site and require a person make a request for a specific item which will then be returned to the courthouse in a couple of days. This is a big step backward from the current immediate access we enjoy. If the new process is implemented it will eliminate the possibility for any "out of the area" visitors using the facility unless they stay for an extended period of time. It will also make it much more time consuming for anyone to do research since many searches require multiple steps during the discovery process. Sorry I had to deliver more bad news, but this archives holds records of many families that are now dispersed across the country and around the world. Our local county executive and county council does not appreciate nor understand the importance of these records despite taking the credit for our county's 250th anniversary celebration last year. He went on in a subsequent message: It might be helpful to contact the following with your concerns: Glenn Reibman, County Executive Northampton County Government Center 669 Washington St. Easton, PA 18042 Phone: (610)559-3191 Frank Flisser, Clerk to Council 669 Washington St. Easton, PA 18042 Phone: (610)559-3195 It might also be helpful to contact one of the local newspapers with a Letter to the Editor. I do not have the contact info for the Express-Times, but the Morning Call can be reached at letters@mcall.com On a personal note, a few years ago I was introduced to Dick at the Marx Room and after talking about where I'd looked and where further I should check, Dick recommended the Northampton County Tax Records in these above-mentioned archives. I spent an afternoon there and was able to trace the movements of one elusive ancestor and establish some other facts as well. At the time I sent a posting to this list suggesting everyone take advantage of this wonderful resource. And now, more than ever. Sincerely, Marilyn