Dear Listers, I am writing this to each of the lists I am on because I have found something that has happened rather distressing & want to alert those who may volunteer in other research facilities or go to them for help in the future. Over about the last 3 months or so we have had quite a number people come to our Elizabeth Twp. His. Soc. for research when I was not there to oversee the library rooms. It has happened that more than one person has come in at a time to do work & it can get a little hectic for anyone trying to assist them. I have even been called at home to assist over the telephone. There have also been times when the people doing research have a limited time to do their work & find that they need to move on to another place, like a cemetery, per what they have discovered, the same day. As a result, they hurriedly pick up their belongings & leave. It is always possible that when this happens to pick up a research book, that is not very large, or papers from a file, by mistake. Realistically speaking, we all know that some people will pick something up that they know is wrong, and also to hurriedly replace books in a location with little regard to caring about whether we can find them easily again. Bearing all this in mind, we found out a while ago, that about a ½ inch soft cover volume of early marriage & death abstracts was missing from our holdings. We have hunted & hunted for it without success, so now the possibility that must be faced it that one of the other options my well have occurred during this time period (And We Certainly Hope We Are Wrong). It is a volume that we use pretty much every time a visitor comes in to our building. Without it many people would be very disappointed & out of luck to find an ancestor. However, in this particular case, I have my own copy of this book, from purchasing it years ago, & am going to have to take it in to be photocopied because it does not seem to be available for purchase any longer. This will destroy the binding of my book, but is going to have to be done. Think about how sad it would be if I didn’t have the copy for this to be done. Therefore, I am asking those of you who may go to a location to do research in the future, to remember my story, and if you ever find that you, accidentally, discover you have included something like this in your research materials to kindly mail whatever it is back to the location. I’m sure that the place would even be happy to reimburse you for the postage in that case. Fortunately, we have only ever found a couple of things missing & once in a while something has been filed incorrectly. That is why, we also ask that people not return the materials they have used to the shelves without direct instructions form a volunteer, if help is needed in this respect. I am also suggesting to those who are volunteers to make sure you have someone sit with those who are working on materials to oversee their activities. You may, or may not, have heard some of the horror stories I have heard about libraries & historical societies having books taken, pages torn out. We can’t leave out the courthouse retention centers either. I have known of tax books being taken & this has caused workers, who need to be doing other duties, to have to sit and watch over the people who are working in them. Why some people think that they are the only ones who would ever be interested in an item is beyond me. Thank you for your indulgence & I hope one & all have a Very Merry Christmas. Ellen (ETHS-VP) Visit my web site at: http://www.familytreetracer.com <http://www.familytreetracer.com/>

That's really sad Ellen. Especially if it was "lifted" on purpose. Do you use a sign-in book with name, address? Any way to write to the recent visitors? On another note .... as a reminder too for everyone... As family members die, it is so tempting to throw out their papers and possessions. But what is "junk" to family today may be realized as "priceless" tomorrow. Your families may not have expensive objects--- but, oh, the worth of "love letters" and other correspondence.... items saved from babyhood... boxes of dusty file folders that might have original documents. No matter what--- take time to look at each item. I tried to stop my bro-in-law from burning my sister's stuff (he's in a different State)--- now, 4 yrs later, they ask "where is ___" or "I wish we had ___". And I say back to him.... "You did have all of that---you BURNED it." He even burned the grandkids' original birth certs and griped when he had to 1. pay for them and 2. drive to get them because he needed them immediately. What they did still puts knots in my stomach. Judy On 12/9/07, Ellen <ellen@b-n-s.com> wrote: > > Dear Listers, > > I am writing this to each of the lists I am on because I have found > something that has happened rather distressing & want to alert those who > may > volunteer in other research facilities or go to them for help in the > future. > > > > Over about the last 3 months or so we have had quite a number people > come > to our Elizabeth Twp. His. Soc. for research when I was not there to > oversee > the library rooms. It has happened that more than one person has come in > at > a time to do work & it can get a little hectic for anyone trying to assist > them. I have even been called at home to assist over the > telephone. There > have also been times when the people doing research have a limited time to > do their work & find that they need to move on to another place, like a > cemetery, per what they have discovered, the same day. As a result, they > hurriedly pick up their belongings & leave. It is always possible that > when > this happens to pick up a research book, that is not very large, or papers > from a file, by mistake. Realistically speaking, we all know that some > people will pick something up that they know is wrong, and also to > hurriedly > replace books in a location with little regard to caring about whether we > can find them easily again. > > > > Bearing all this in mind, we found out a while ago, that about a ½ inch > soft cover volume of early marriage & death abstracts was missing from our > holdings. We have hunted & hunted for it without success, so now the > possibility that must be faced it that one of the other options my well > have > occurred during this time period (And We Certainly Hope We Are Wrong). It > is a volume that we use pretty much every time a visitor comes in to our > building. Without it many people would be very disappointed & out of luck > to find an ancestor. However, in this particular case, I have my own copy > of this book, from purchasing it years ago, & am going to have to take it > in > to be photocopied because it does not seem to be available for purchase > any > longer. This will destroy the binding of my book, but is going to have to > be done. Think about how sad it would be if I didn't have the copy for > this > to be done. > > > > Therefore, I am asking those of you who may go to a location to do > research in the future, to remember my story, and if you ever find that > you, > accidentally, discover you have included something like this in your > research materials to kindly mail whatever it is back to the > location. I'm > sure that the place would even be happy to reimburse you for the postage > in > that case. Fortunately, we have only ever found a couple of things > missing > & once in a while something has been filed incorrectly. That is why, we > also ask that people not return the materials they have used to the > shelves > without direct instructions form a volunteer, if help is needed in this > respect. I am also suggesting to those who are volunteers to make sure > you > have someone sit with those who are working on materials to oversee their > activities. You may, or may not, have heard some of the horror stories I > have heard about libraries & historical societies having books taken, > pages > torn out. We can't leave out the courthouse retention centers either. I > have known of tax books being taken & this has caused workers, who need to > be doing other duties, to have to sit and watch over the people who are > working in them. Why some people think that they are the only ones who > would ever be interested in an item is beyond me. Thank you for your > indulgence & I hope one & all have a Very Merry Christmas. Ellen > (ETHS-VP) > >