South King County Genealogical Society

Do Your Genealogy Research at Auburn Library Soon -
an extended Auburn Library Closure is coming up next year!

A capital bond measure passed by King County voters in September 2004 provided money for the building of several new libraries in the King County Library System as well as building improvements for many of the existing libraries. Currently in South King County, the Federal Way Regional Library is closed (Feb. 2009 to approx. Feb/Mar 2010) as is the Kent Regional Library (Sept. 2009 to approx. Feb/Mar 2010). The Auburn Library expects to close sometime next spring for somewhere between 6-12 months. The closure will most likely begin after the Federal Way and Kent Libraries reopen, so the best guess at this time is beginning somewhere from late April to July 2010. The 15,000 sq. ft. Auburn Library will be expanded by approximately 5,000 sq. ft., and will have one of the new check-in systems installed as well as other remodeling. During the closure period the genealogy collection will be in storage off-site and will not be accessible. Updates about the closing will be made on the SKCGS website and mailing list.

Preparation for Possible Flooding This Winter

A question was raised by a board member several weeks ago about flood planning by KCLS in regards to the Howard Hanson dam defects. The library and everything south of Highway 18 are not in what is regarded as the flood plain, but in preparing for a worst case scenario, the collapse of all levies along the length of the Green River, there could be 18-24" of water in the library building. Since the genealogy collection is not considered easily replaceable, the books on the lowest two shelves are being moved to higher shelves before the Nov-Jan flood season begins. Boxes with exchange newsletters will be moved to the lower shelves. The Kent Library is in the flood plain, but the books are in storage while the building is being remodeled, and they have been moved off-site so as not to be vulnerable to flooding this winter.

The library holdings of the South King County Genealogical Society are located in two locations. The majority of the collection has been donated to the King County Library System and is housed at the Auburn Branch of the King County Library System, located at 1102 Auburn Way S., Auburn, WA.

Society members are available in the library for genealogical assistance. Please check with the library for current dates and times.

Note: The library holdings are also searchable online through the King County Library Catalog.

Given the sheer number of books, periodicals, articles, and other information housed in the Auburn Library Genealogy Collection, our Librarian, Barbara Heutchy has broken the collection up into a number of different categories, listed below. The bulk of the collection is books and magazines, which are listed by a major subject category (such as Adoption; Illinois, State of; General Genealogy, etc.) and then categories are separated alphabetically. The title or article you are looking for may be listed in a different location than you were expecting.