Harford County Public Library Hosts 6th Annual Genealogy Conference

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March 30 event features speakers, networking and exhibitors

Harford County Public Library’s 6th annual Genealogy Conference takes place Saturday, March 30, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Bel Air Armory, 37 North Main Street in Bel Air.

There is no fee to attend the conference. Due to the popularity of this event, advance registration is required and opens Monday, March 18, at 10 a.m. by visiting HCPLonline.org or by calling any Harford County Public Library location.

Speakers and topics include Mary Mannix, who will discuss “Thinking About Your Stuff: Estate Planning for Genealogists”; Rebecca Korford, “Are You My Grandpa? Men of the Same Name Case Studies”; Nancy Waters, “When a Brick Wall Crumbles Onto the Wrong Path” and Andy Hochreiter, “DNA Rules and Tools.”

Resource table participants include Colonel Aquila Hall Chapter of the Maryland SAR & Hereditary Order of the Signers of the Bush Declaration, Coyle Studios, Family Search, Gov. William Paca Chapter of NSDAR, Harbor of Grace Chapter of NSDAR, Historical Society of Harford County, HCPL genealogy databases, Living Treasures: Harford County Oral Histories,

Maryland Genealogy Society and Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society.

“The Genealogy Conference is one of the library’s most popular events every year,” said Mary Hastler, CEO of Harford County Public Library. “We are proud to have such amazing speakers. Their topics really assist genealogists with their research. In addition, the conference allows Harford County Public Library to showcase the many resources we provide, including databases and monthly discussion groups. If you are interested in researching your family history, this conference is for you.”

Free parking for the conference is available along Main Street, Lee Street, in the Lee Street lot (between Main Street and Bond Street), in the Pennsylvania Avenue parking garage and in the Bel Air Elementary School parking lot. Limited handicapped parking spots are available in front of the Armory on Main Street.

Harford County Public Library offers several genealogy databases, including Ancestry Library Edition (only available inside a library building), fold3, Gale Genealogy Connect, HCPLonline.org-Research-Genealogy, Heritage Quest Online, Newspapers.com and ProQuest Historical U.S. Newspapers. The Maryland Room at the Bel Air Library houses an array of genealogy and local research materials in addition to Harford County’s Living Treasures Oral History Collection.

In addition, Harford County Public Library is an affiliate library for FamilySearch, a program with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, that houses a catalog of 2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical resources worldwide. This enhanced digital content is available only by using public computers at the Bel Air Library.

Harford County Public Library offers ongoing genealogy discussion groups. The Havre de Grace Library group meets the first Monday of the month at 6:30 p.m. At the Joppa Library, the genealogy discussion group gathers on the third Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. A group at the Whiteford Library meets on the first Thursday of the month at 6 p.m.

Harford County Public Library operates 11 branches located throughout Harford County. More than 1.6 million visitors use library services and resources each year. In 2018 Harford County Public Library was named one of America’s Star Libraries for the eighth time by Library Journal.  It was also the recipient of a 2018 Graphic Design USA American Inhouse Design Award. For more information, visit HCPLonline.org.

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