The Prince George’s County Genealogical Society was founded in 1969 and is the oldest county genealogical society in continuous existence in the State of Maryland. As the Society grew so did the need for a Library.

Initially the Founding and Charter members loaned books from their personal libraries to one another. As the Society acquired books through purchase or gift, a Library Committee was appointed and the Librarian transported the small collection to and from meetings.

In 1981 H. Ivan and Dorothy T. Rainwater, long time Bowie residents, were instrumental in finding a home for the Library in Bowie. Acting in concert with Bowie City officials, the Library has been housed in the Belair Mansion, the Belair Stables Museum and now shares space with the Curator of the City of Bowie in a house owned by the City. The Library is comprised of a reading room, staff office and stacks room.

From a handful of books (49 in 1975) the Library now comprises over 5,500 volumes! Books are acquired by purchase, individual gifts and estate collections. In addition to books, there are many state periodical titles, an extraordinary collection of family surname periodicals, microfilm and microfiche, Bible records, published family genealogies, CDs, video and audio cassettes, maps, a Surname File and the Registrar’s files and notebooks.

The scope of the Library’s holdings is nationwide in many respects. While Maryland and Prince George’s County are the primary concentration, there is also heavy emphasis on other Eastern states, migration routes and specific topical interests.