Our Work

I realize that I have never really described what I do.  My call is to the family search zone of the Family History Library.  We are on the main floor of the library and mainly provide services for new comers and inexperienced family historians.  Ninety percent of my time is spent on the patron services floor.  Here we answer questions, help beginners with on line resources, show people how to print or save documents they find.  A typical patron will come in and say, "I don't know anything about my family."  We ask questions and help them identify what they do know and what they would like to know.  We show them how to find their ancestors in resources like social security death index, census records, birth or marriage records, military records and voter schedules.  We show them how to use the library catalog, and where further research can be done.  We introduce them to familysearch.org, and its associated sites.  This work is fun and rewarding.  I often meet people from far away.  We do not preach the gospel here, but the spirit is almost always present and our encounters are often spiritual experiences.  Occasionally members of the Mormon church come in for help with new family search.  These are usually wonderful experiences too.
The other 10% of my time is spent in the lobby.  I man the information desk, the exit desk, the temple desk.  Here we direct the patrons as they come into the library and answer phone calls that come in.  We show a short film to the first timers.  We get them help if they need it.  We direct them to other floors, depending on what they are looking for.  This is also fun.  We will interact with literally dozens of people during an hour.  They are all nice people who are sincerely looking to connect with their families.
I also do a little mentoring of new missionaries who come into the zone.  I have recently been trained to work the "pod" which is the reference desk on the main floor.  Here we are expected to know more, so time will tell if I'm ready for that.
David comes into the library with me every morning.  After prayer meeting he goes off to the Cafeteria dish room where he helps get the cafeteria ready for the lunch rush.  They eat lunch at 10:30, before the cafeteria opens.  During the lunch time he stacks and puts away dishes as they come out of the dishwasher.  Sometimes he stands by the automated dish return to make sure nothing sticks out and stops the conveyer.  The rest of his crew goes home at 3:00 but David stays another hour to scrub tables and chairs in the dining room.  It takes him a couple of months to get through the whole room, but he is very thorough.  At 4:00 he walks back to the library and we go home.

Even though we do the same kind of thing every day, the people we interact with make each day interesting and new.