R E S O U R C E
S
Research Policy for
anyone unable to visit our library
Questions?
Email
mcgs.research@gmail.com
ANCESTRY.COM
access available on
our library computer!
The following
indexes are COPYRIGHTED by MCGS
You may link to them, but you may not copy them.
Elmer
E. Garst's Record Book©
containing the names, births, and deaths
of residents of Stanford, IL
Former
Names of Bloomington-Normal Streets
&
Sources of
Bloomington-Normal Street Names
Index to MCGS Vertical Surname Files©
A-Z (1,980+ names)
Index
to Duis' book,
Good Old Times in
McLean County, Illinois©
Obituary
Index 1986 - 1999©
Died in McLean Co., Buried Elsewhere
Gleanings
Indexes 1967 to Present©
McLean County Immigration Records Index
Name index prepared by MCGS from records at the Circuit
Clerk's Office
View "mystery
photos"
Link to the Stevenson-Ives Library Online Catalog
Stevenson-Ives
Library
& Archive
The MCGS shares the
Stevenson-Ives Library & Archive with the McLean County Museum of
History. The library has over 10,000 volumes and 1,500 linear feet
of archival material. Our vertical files contain several hundred
surname records. We have an excellent CD collection, including
PERSI--the Periodical Source Index (see below). This is a non-circulating research facility.
While materials in the archive must be obtained for patrons by trained
staff, there is an open-stacks policy in the library.
The Stevenson-Ives Library is
located on the second floor of the
McLean County Museum of History
on the Courthouse Square in downtown Bloomington, IL.
Downtown Bloomington map
|
Library Hours |
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday thru Saturday |
|
Our Research Volunteers Are
Happy To Assist You!
After an initial
email or mail inquiry, all requests for research must
be made by regular U.S. mail
and accompanied by an initial minimum fee of
$10.00 for the first two surnames, and a
self-addressed stamped envelope. Additional
surname requests are $5.00 each. Any
additional charges, which may include 25
cents per photocopied page, will be billed.
Please send your request and fee to MCGS,
Attn: Corresponding Secretary, P.O. Box 488,
Normal, IL 61761-0488. If you have email,
please include it with your request in case
someone from the Society needs to get in
touch with you with a brief question.
mcgs.research@gmail.com
|
Partial view of Stacks
Journals & Newsletters
Census Index shelves
Platbooks & Genealogy Records card catalog
Patrons may search using our extensive card catalogs
which include newspaper indexes, vital records indexes, cemetery
indexes, archives index, and books.
A REAL LIBRARY HOME
Library Location History
The
following paragraphs were written by Elizabeth Masters, 1975 MCGS
President, probably for a report to the Long Range Committee,
Chaired by Paul Benjamin, about a proposed combination of the
Genealogical Society's Books with those of the McLean County
Historical Society after the move to the Old Courthouse.
(Edited for typographical errors.)
As a
long time member of the McLean County Genealogical Society, I
should like to express how I feel about the upcoming combining of
our library holdings with those of the McLean County Historical
Society, and the move into the second floor quarters planned for a
much larger and more suitable library facility than either of our
Societies has in our present quarters. Having been involved with
the Genealogical Society's Library from its inception in 1966, I
have seen its holdings grow from about two shelves of books in
the old Withers Public Library in Bloomington to our present room,
bursting at the seams on the premises of the McLean County
Historical Society. Believe me, this phenomenal growth, both in
quantity and quality of resource material, and in the numbers of
members and others using them, has not come about without some
"growing pains" and a great expenditure of effort and support on
the part of our members and friends of which I consider the
Historical Society to be at the top of the list.
One of
our most persistent and difficult problems has been that of a
safe, accessible repository for our books. We had been "evicted"
from both Withers Public Library and the Normal Public Library (at
the time their new Library building was completed). This was
in the Spring of 1973 and our Librarian then, Miss Alice Ogle,
graciously offered to place the books in her home at 116 Eastview
Drive, Normal. She provided shelving, some just planks across
bricks, in delightful surroundings in which to work, and kept it
open to all on Wednesday afternoons, and on other days by special
appointment. I was glad to be able to help her on many Wednesdays
as she was not in very good health then.
In late
1974 we were approached by Wayne Rogers, President of the McLean
County Historical Society, with an invitation to share, without
charge, quarters which they had rented at 1340 E. Empire, formerly
a shoe store, with lots of shelving already in place. Here, for
the first time since the fire, some of their books were also made
available, so we had access to many of the books of both Societies
at that time. By recruiting of volunteers from our Society we were
able to have the facility open on a 7-day schedule. At this time
it also became possible to check out some of our books to our
members. This was the beginning of our Library Volunteers and the
need was as great then as it still is and as it certainly will be
when we occupy the combined Library in the Courthouse.
In the
Summer of 1976 the Historical Society rented temporary facilities
at 112 E. Front Street to bring together all their holdings and an
office until their 3rd floor quarters in the McBarnes Building
were completely restored. Again we were invited to share, without
charge their temporary quarters in the former Smith-Alsop Paint
Store, with plenty of shelving in place. This was a more central
location for our Library, and we were able to continue to keep it
open on a seven-day schedule with the help of our loyal
volunteers.
Then,
in 1977, we were assigned to our present room on the 3rd-floor of the McBarnes Building and for the first time in our history we had a
REAL LIBRARY HOME. We purchased new steel shelving, a new
mimeograph machine for our Newsletter and Quarterly and with some
tables and chairs offered to us by the Historical Society we were
finally in business. Miss Ogle presented us with a good used
copier, which we later were able to parlay, at a minimal cost to
our Society, into the rental of a fine copier we now have.
She also provided, the steel
shelving on the south wall of our room to which we now shelve the
many quarterlies we receive. Eventually we started paying a
minimal rent to the McLean County Historical Society, but it is a
very small payment for the services we have received and are still
receiving from them.
As to
the question of intershelving of our books with those of the
Historical Society, we should be the beneficiaries of such a move
because they have much material of interest to Genealogists which
will be more accessible for ups by our members end others than it
is now -- mainly because most of our members are not aware of its
existence in their library and hesitate to search-it out.
Signed, Elizabeth Masters
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