New Local History and Genealogy Resources

Fondulac District Library announces the addition of new online resources related to local history and genealogy. 

The library’s entire microfilm collection of historical East Peoria newspapers has been digitized and is now accessible as the East Peoria Newspaper Archive to anyone via the library’s website. The collection includes more than 80,000 digitized pages of East Peoria-area history from 1917 to 2013. 

Searchable by date, newspaper title, and keywords, titles include The Tazewell Courier, East Peoria Courier, East Peoria Times-Courier, The East Peoria Post, Citadel Community News, Illinois Valley Herald, and the East Side News. The library’s collection is now part of the Community History Archive which is accessible from the library’s website and contains more than 125 million documents and images from central Illinois and across the United States. These archives are valuable additions to other free library website resources including the Illinois State Archives, The National Archives, and The Digital Public Library of America.

The digital microfilm archive project was made possible by and funded from a generous donation left to the library by Raymond and Peg Bahnfleth. 

Fondulac District Library also announces that it is now registered as a FamilySearch Affiliate Library. Affiliate libraries have access to FamilySearch’s digital genealogical collections that are otherwise only accessible on-location at a FamilySearch center. Accessing FamilySearch while on the library’s computers or wi-fi network allows patrons to study special FamilySearch.org collections and to search unique local and national historical records. FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world, adding hundreds of millions of free records and images online every year. 

For more information or assistance, visit Fondulac District Library in-person or at fondulaclibrary.org.

Generous Donations Provide New Materials in the Youth Services Collection
The library is grateful to the family and friends of Caleb Lee Schwartz for their continued donations in celebration of his life. Their generosity has allowed the library to add fun, innovative items to the Youth Services collection for young patrons to enjoy. As reported in January, the Poll and Schwartz families sponsored the launch of the popular Yoto Mini Player and card collection. Since that time, their donations have also been used to expand the collection of Books That Talk, hardcover books with built-in audiobook players. The audiobook player offers two modes: read-along mode narrates the story, while learning mode asks questions related to the story. The Books That Talk collection includes many of Caleb’s favorites, such as Poor Louie and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Friends of Caleb and the Schwartz family are helping again. Connor, Ellie, and Noah Heintz have spent the better part of a year operating a lemonade stand and have donated $2,660 to the library in order to keep the Yoto collection growing.

Jessica Heintz, mother of the enterprising trio, says, “It’s really important to us to continue honoring Caleb’s life…seeing his legacy make an impact for other kiddos will be really special.” 

For more information about events, materials, or services, please visit fondulaclibrary.org, or call us at (309) 699-3917.