I just received the following notice from Carol Roark, the Manager of Special Collections (Texas/Dallas History, Genealogy and Fine Books) at the Dallas Public Library. They’ve had a change in hours. I note that the hours aren’t all that long any more. The last time I was in Dallas, I remember researching into the evening in the genealogy collection, and spending a fair amount of time visiting with Lloyd (who was an institution there). With unemployment now running at over 10%, there are many of us with the time to do genealogy, one of the very few upsides to being out-of-work. However, as I’ve blogged in the past, the facilities where we wish to research may not be open for us to do it…
As to the situation in Dallas – at least the library isn’t closing!
Effective October 1, 2009, the J. Erik Jonsson Central
Library, the main library in the Dallas Public Library system, has new hours. These hours cover the Genealogy Section on the library’s eighth floor. New hours are:
- Monday: closed
- Tuesday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Wednesday and Thursday: 12 p.m. (noon) to 6 p.m.
- Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Sunday: 1 to 5 p.m.
For additional information, visit the Dallas Public Library’s website at http://dallaslibrary.org or call the Genealogy Section at 214.670.1433.
My library now has 40 percent less staff than they did. If funders think that libraries are expensive, what about jail? While it is still open 61 hours a week, it might not be able to afford any databases at all, and take another 40 percent cut in book funds as well. What a shame.