TMCC Celebrates Family History Research Room
By Rebecca A. Eckland, TMCC Celebrates Family History Research Room
On Friday, Oct. 8, 2021, guests from across the community came together to celebrate a major milestone for Truckee Meadows Community College's Genealogy Lab: the opening of its Family History Research Room. These guests were joined by others on Zoom who could also witness the grand opening event from as far away as Florida and New York. As Genealogy Researcher and Learning Commons Librarian Suzanne Malek would say, genealogy's appeal is universal—who doesn’t want to know more about their own history?—and one of the fastest-growing areas of research and interest in the United States today.
TMCC's Genealogy Lab began four years ago, and later became a contracted affiliate with the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, which is the world's largest genealogical library. Malek, a passionate researcher for the discipline, created and fostered the TMCC Genealogy Lab as a resource for students, faculty, staff and the community. To date, the books in the genealogy collection are the most circulated books at the TMCC Learning Commons, and the lab has hosted over 200 guest speakers at no additional cost to the college, which have been attended on average by 40-50 participants each week.
The Family History Room will house the growing acquisitions and resources that are available to help TMCC students, faculty, staff and community members to learn more about their family histories. “What I love about this new space is that everyone is welcome in the Open Genealogy Lab. It's a true community resource, here at your community college. And that’s exactly what we are here for—to serve our community,” said Malek in her speech at the opening ceremony.
“We want to be the one-stop place to do your family research. This has been one of my goals, and certainly something that will benefit the community in the years to come,” she said.