Dr. Virginia Webb, our local genealogist, is really excited about a recent happening on Ancestry.com. They have released the Louisiana death records over 50 years old! At our genealogy meeting on October 21st, she will be speaking about the importance of death certificates in genealogy research. According to Dr. Webb, death certificates provide a wealth of information for family history researchers. Availability of death certificates varies greatly according to the place of death and the year of death. In the United States, some death records date back to the 1600s. Death records in the New Orleans area date back to the very early 1800s. Statewide Louisiana death records began in 1911, but some areas of the state were not compliant until 1914. The October Genealogy program will include a look at sample death records, how to obtain death records, how to determine accuracy of the death records, and some interesting examples of death certificates. Volunteers and library staff will assist participants in locating death certificates recently released to Ancestry.com, one of the programs available through the Red River Parish Library.
On November 7th, Dr. Webb will also teach a genealogy workshop, which will give out the very basic first steps on doing genealogical research. She taught a workshop like this about a year or so ago, and the response was very good. Anyone interested in genealogy is welcome, no matter how experienced he or she might be. The Red River Parish Library is very lucky to have someone like Dr. Webb, who is so passionate about the history of our parish. In addition, she has been able to help us get some very helpful materials added to our library. Specifically, we have obtained copies of a series of books on family maps of Red River Parish, Bienville Parish, and Natchitoches Parish, just to mention a few. Our library is becoming well-known for both the quantity and quality of materials we have acquired to aid in genealogical research.
During the last week of October, our library will begin decorating for Halloween and working with members of the community to bring smiles to young and old alike. On October 28, the library will take part in the Trunk or Treat at the local nursing home, and on October 29, our library will participate in the Elementary School’s Trunk or Treat activity. Finally, we will have our own Halloween Party here at the library on October 30th in our big meeting room from 4:00 to 6:00. We hope that all will come to have some fun, get some candy, and take a lot of pictures. Parents, please remember that your children need either you or another responsible adult with them during this time.
Finally, the library is doing something that has never been done here before this year. Teens are invited to participate in a Game Truck Day to be held on November 20th from 2:00 to 4:00 here at the library. However, all teens who are interested in participating must register by November 10th by coming to the library to sign up and also get a parent letter which must be signed and returned to the library. This activity is for ages 13 through 18 and is completely free. The games provided will be selected by library staff with input from teens, to ensure that the games are age and theme appropriate. The game trucks will be manned by adults employed by the gaming company, and library personnel will also be available. The parent letter that the teens pickup when they register will have all the information that both parents and teens need. We hope that we will have a good turnout, but due to time and space, the number of teens will be limited to no more than 30, so registration is very important. If this activity has a good response, we may try to make it a regular event.
Submitted by the Red River Parish Library
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