The 2nd Annual Wythe-Grayson Regional Library Genealogy and Local History Institute will be Monday, May 6-Wednesday, May 8 at the Library in Independence. There will be four sessions - 2 per day on Monday and Tuesday on Native American Research, African-American Research, German-American Research and Scotch-Irish Research. On Wednesday there will be an all day field trip to the Library of the Historical Society of Washington Co., VA in Abingdon. The fee for each of the individual sessions is $10.00 and the Wednesday field trip is free. There will also be a full-day Introduction to Genealogy Research offered on Saturday, May 4 which will include information about local resources for research, research techniques and doing research on the Internet. The fee for this workshop is $20.00 and registration is limited to 20 people. Two additional events are scheduled to coincide with the Institute. On Sunday, May 5 there will be a free public reception from 3:00-5:00 pm for the opening of the Glenn Cebert Bland Photography Exhibit. Mr Bland was an early local photographer who took photographs of family members and friends in the Elk Creek/Comers Rock area during the period of 1900-1920. Many of his photographs have been scanned into the library's photo archives and will be available for research at the library. On Monday evening, May 6 at 7:00 pm there will be a program on "Life in the 30s and 40s from an African American Perspective" presented by Wilhelmina Banks, storyteller and director of the Nyumba Ya Tausi-Peacock Museum in Bristol, VA. The admission for this program is $5.00. Registration for all the workshops is limited and pre-registration is required. For more information and registration forms call the Independence Library at 276-773-2761.

For those of you who live in the Grayson County area, this is just a reminder: The 2nd Annual Wythe-Grayson Regional Library Genealogy and Local History Institute will be Monday, May 6-Wednesday, May 8 at the Library in Independence. There will be four sessions - 2 per day on Monday and Tuesday: Monday AM - Native American Research by Ken Rogers (Native American Studies Group, Ashe Co, NC) Monday PM - African-American Research by John Johnson (Wythe Co, VA) Tuesday AM - German-American Research by Charles Phillippi (founder/director of the Settlers Museum of SW VA, Atkins, VA) Tuesday PM - Scotch-Irish Research by Mary B Kegley (Wythe Co, VA) Each session will include the history and culture of the topic group, doing genealogy research on that group and library resources available for doing that research. The AM sessions are 9:00-12:00 noon and the PM sessions are 1:30-4:30. The charge for each session is $10.00 and may be paid at the door. To register, call the Independence Library at 276-773-2761. On Wednesday there will be an all day field trip to the Library of the Historical Society of Washington Co., VA in Abingdon. There is no fee for this event. On Monday evening, May 6, at 7:00 pm there will be a special program on "Life in the 30s and 40s from an African American Perspective" presented by Wilhelmina Banks, storyteller and director of the Nyumba Ya Tausi-Peacock Museum in Bristol, VA. The admission for this program is $5.00.