~  Family History Center ~

The Berrien County Genealogical Society has ordered in all of the vital records that have been microfilmed for Berrien County on extended loan and you are welcome to come in and view them. The FHC has two microfilm readers and two microfiche readers for your convenience. There is a staff that will be happy to help you get started on your research (free of charge).  For microfilm listings click on "Microfilm" in the Navigation Bar.
 

A few things to know about the Family History Center:

1. There are several things to remember when you are looking at Microfilm that is already at the Family History Center.  If there is an "Item Number" on the microfilm, this means that there is more than one set of microfilmed documents on the roll.  These "Items" may or may not be related to each other.  When the records were microfilmed,  the whole role of microfilm is used up and if there was room left over at the end of filming in an area, it was used in the next area that they microfilmed.

2. When looking at the boxes that the microfilm is in, the title on the box is the name of the "Item" that the person ordering the film was researching.  If you have the right microfilm number but the title is different, chances are that what you are looking is one of the other "items" on that film.  Each section on the microfilm is started and ended with a coversheet with the Item number listed.

3. The microfilm may have a patron's name on it.  When the microfilm is ordered in to the Family History Center, the patron's name is listed on the box for easy reference for the patron.  All microfilm at the Family History Center is available for ALL patrons to view. 

4.  If you don't see a microfilm listed and available at the Family History Center, look up the information you want  on the http://www.familysearch.org website, locate the film number that you wish to view and when you go to the Family History Center, the librarian can order this film from Salt Lake City, Utah.  (If there is not a film number listed, it has not yet been microfilmed.)  It takes about 15 days for the film to come once it has been ordered.  Rental charges for the film is $5.50 and you will have the film available to look at for 2 weeks.  The microfilm can be renewed for another 3 weeks for an additional $5.50 and if the film is renewed again it can stay in the Family History Center on an extended loan, which means it will not be returned until you request that it be returned.  So for a total of $16.50 you can have a film available for viewing for an extended amount of time.  Microfilm cannot be removed from the Family History Center.

5. When visiting the family search website, http://www.familysearch.org and if you are looking for microfilm, go to the "library" tab and look under "Library Catalog" and you will find blue tabs to search on.  You can search by "Place Search" , "Surname Search", "Keyword Search" ,  "Title Search", "Film Search", "Author Search", "Subject Search" or "Call Number Search."  Happy Hunting!

6.  When researching microfilm from another country, be aware that it may be in the country's native language.  There are a few books at the Family History Center that you can use for translating.  If there is not a book there, as a librarian for the "Research Help Guides" (they are in a binder filed by country) and the binder is located on the shelf above the computers.  These guides will give you "key" words that a researcher would be looking for that will be translated into English.

7.  Librarians who work in the Family History Center are volunteers, they are not professionals.  There are no charges for their services and they will be glad to help you where they can.  Some librarians are a little more experienced than others, but they will all be willing to help you.

The Family History Center in Benton Harbor is a branch library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that is open to the public. The Family History Center is a great resource for ordering films from the Salt Lake library on either a short-term rental or extended loan.

For More Info Please Check out Family Search.org

Hours:

Tuesday: 6:30 PM - 8:30PM

Wednesday: 6:00 PM - 8:30PM

Family History Center is closed on holidays and days of inclement weather.