Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Frugal Genealogy: Books and Magazine Subscriptions



Looking for some good genealogy books? See if you can find them for sale online. I'm not just talking about auction sites or new or used store websites. Many genealogical and historical societies sell used or duplicate copies of books on their websites. Fiske Genealogical Library, for instance, has a running list of its latest items for purchase.

Do you or other members of your society subscribe to magazines and have stacks of old issues lying around? Start a genealogy magazine exchange box! My own society, the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society, does this and it's very simple. We have a large cardboard box that comes out to our Ways and Means table at all our general meetings each month. Members are encouraged to bring their own past issues of their favorite subscriptions and take home whatever interests them. Some borrow and return issues; others keep them permanently. We make it easy by not requiring a "check-out" system or keeping tabs, yet everyone seems happy with it.

This post is part of a ten-part series on Frugal Genealogy, based on my most-requested presentation, "Frugal Genealogy, or How Not to Spend a Fortune on Your Family Tree." Each post in this series will focus on one of ten topics I discuss in my presentation, and I freely share one tip from each topic. If you would like me to speak to your group anywhere in the Pacific Northwest on this or any other subject, please contact me.

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