During construction at the Main Library (January 2010 through 2011), the Local History and Genealogy materials will be available at WTVP at 101 State Street. Open weekdays and Saturday from 9:00-6:00 p.m. Closed Wednesdays. Open Thursdays until 9:00 p.m.

Please call 309-497-2155 with questions or for directions to our off-site temporary location.

The Genealogical Collection includes indexes, bibliographies, magazines, books, microfiche, and microfilm.

If you have a specific question about our genealogy collection please visit our e-mail reference page or stop at the Reference Desk in the basement of the Main Library.

First you should talk to older living relatives and gather information from them. Also, look for family bibles, letters, and other papers. Then, beginning with yourself, write down information about you, your parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on. The information you are looking for is vital information. In other words, Vital Records, the dates and places of births, marriages, and deaths. Once you have placed people at a certain time in a certain place you can then look for records in that area. PPL Reference staff can assist patrons in finding specific materials to aid in their research.

If a death date is known for the requested person, we will check the Peoria newspapers for an obituary following the date of death. Please send a letter with the name and death date of the requested person along with a self addressed stamped envelope to the Reference department.