Excellent information!!!

-----Original Message----- 
From: Bill Davidson
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2012 9:45 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Visiting LVA

You park in the basement and then you take the elevator to the first floor
(unless you are parked somewhere else and you just walk directly into the
first floor from the sidewalk).  Just go up the big stairs from the first
floor to the second floor and turn left at the top to go to the "genealogy
section."  They usually have a person at the desk in that area who can help
you.  There is also another desk where a person will assign you a microfilm
reader, if you want to use one (an you almost certainly will).  The cabinets
that contain the microfilm reels are also in that same area, and someone can
direct you to the county or area of interest within those cabinets (and they
are also marked on the front of each drawer of each cabinet).  They also
have an "archive room" where many original documents are kept, and you can
go in there and ask for assistance, as well.  There are also computers in
that same general area that you can use (and you can access the LOVa website
on them, it you want to refresh your memory on what the library has
available....and where).  There are also books along the outside wall that
contain censuses.

If you want a Will from Hanover Co., VA, for example, you just pull the
microfilm reel from the Hanover Co., VA drawer that contains Wills .  In
some cases, the index for Wills, deeds, etc. may be on one film reel, and
that will then direct you to another reel on which the document of interest
is actually located (while some other reels have the index at the front, and
the actual document is simply "deeper" in that same reel).  Most of the
microfilm readers do not allow you to print anything, so if you find
something that you want to print, you will have to take the reel and reload
it on one of the few readers that do have a "print function." The staff will
be glad to show you how to do that.  You can apply for a library card, and
you can then "apply money" (say, for example $10) to that card (they have an
"ATM-like" machine that will let you do that).  You can then insert that
card into the microfilm printer to pay for any/all copies that you want to
make.

The other side of that floor of the library (to the right of the top of the
big stairs) has a large section of books that are arraigned by county.  You
may find census, marriage, deed, etc., etc. information over there that you
did not find in the microfilm (as well as county histories and things like
that).

Bill Davidson

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