Genealogy is a major tenet of the faith for members of the LDS Church, and now a new library has been dedicated at its headquarters in Salt Lake City. It’s a library, many believe, that’s a realization of God’s words to church founder Joseph Smith: “There shall be a record kept among you … for the good of the church … and the rising generations.”
It houses 600,000 photos, 270,000 books, pamphlets, magazines and newspapers, and 240,000 collections of original, unpublished records, journals, diaries, correspondence and minutes that detail Mormons’ experiences. More on the dedication of the library by LDS President Thomas S. Monson from the Salt Lake Tribune.
Not the Family History Library
The library that is the focus of this article is the Church History Library, not the Family History (aka genealogy) library. The new facility is devoted to the official records of the LDS church, as well as to the stories of members of the church as revealed through their personal journals and similar artifacts. The Family History Library houses millions of rolls of microfilm and books about people all around the world — vital statistics, census records, etc. etc. Two separate buildings.