When the New York Public Library offered a free Genealogy class at the 42nd Street location (with the lions), I jumped at the chance. There I learned of all the free resources at the library including subscriptions to Ancestry.com, HeritageQuest.com, a list of volunteer–added databases, and printed volumes in the NYPL Genealogy Room.

For a month, during my lunch hour I went to the library and looked through the books, censuses, and family indexes and found a great deal of information going back to the 1500s in France. I eventually learned that I am a descendant of King Louis VIII of France!

Anyway, the librarians are so helpful and nice and the resources are very organized. I would recommend this to everyone.  The classes are every month or so but you can walk into the NYPL Genealogy Room and ask for help at anytime.  It was a lot of fun.

Christi, 26, Astoria

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There is no admission fee for the Reading Room, Genealogy Institute, or the public galleries. There are also free tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2pm. The tours last about 1 1/2 hours and include the galleries of all the Partners except the Yeshiva University Museum (YUM). If you choose to schedule in advance, also offered are a free 30-minute session on how to conduct research on family history and a free 20-30 minute talk with an archivist or librarian. The holdings of the partners of the Center for Jewish History represent a collection of 100 million archival documents, manuscripts, and photographs, 500,000 library volumes, and tens of thousands of artifacts, and works of art.

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The NY Public Library offers free English classes at 20 branches. The library also offers free classes and workshops in categories such as computer technology, health, and resume writing. Choose your closest library and search through all the free offerings for instance job coaching, free film viewings, and business advice. There’s literally hundreds of free programs, services, resources (genealogy help), and perks the libraries have to offer every month.

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