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Michigan Room

Local history information can be found in the Michigan Room.

What is the Michigan Room?

The purpose of the Michigan Room collection is to provide resource materials targeted towards individuals conducting local history or genealogical research in the Michigan Room. The Michigan Room of the Three Rivers Public Library is a valuable repository for items pertaining to family genealogy, history of local organizations, government (village, city, township) county information, war records, and births and obituaries, including cemetery records.

The Michigan Room is open whenever the library is open. 

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What is in the Michigan Room?

Maps
Census records
War records
Michigan history
St. Joseph County history
Three Rivers history
Genealogy research materials
Cemetery records
City directories
Three Rivers High School yearbooks
River County Journal Digital Archives

General Selection Guidelines

The Michigan Room collection contains historical and genealogical research information that focuses on the history of the City of Three Rivers, the history of individuals residing or who have resided in Three Rivers, the history of St. Joseph County and individuals who have resided in St. Joseph County, and the history of organizations, now defunct, which have operated in Three Rivers.   Permanent collections will be selected based upon the material’s fit within the scope of the collection, and the Library’s ability to properly care for and preserve the material.  Any materials donated to the Library, if duplicates or if not pertinent to the focus outlined above will be forwarded to an appropriate agency, including Library of Michigan, WMU Archives, the St. Joseph County Historical Museum, the Silliman House and Allen County  Public Library, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Policies

Loan Policy:  Materials in the Michigan Room do not circulate.

Access:  The Michigan Room is open during established library hours. 

Assistance:  The Michigan Room will not be staffed to perform lengthy or extensive local history/genealogical requests.  Some reference assistance is available from circulation staff and volunteers.  Brief  requests may be addressed to the library director by phone, email or regular mail.

Exclusions:  The Library will not accept restricted collections and will not collect duplicated of materials in our holdings; undated and unidentified photographs of people; newspapers available on microfilm,; three-dimensional artifacts; local and state government records in their original form; or books by Three Rivers authors that are outside the scope of our collection policy.

Weeding Policy: Materials already in the collection which do not reflect the collecting areas of the Michigan Room may be removed and offered to other more appropriate institutions.

Gifts and Donations:  Gifts and donations are important to supplementing the Michigan Room collection.  Donations are accepted if they fit the criteria of this policy and if they can be used in an effective manner.  Donations that are determined to have a more selective use in another more suitable environment are not accepted, but referred to other locations that may or may not  accept the donation.  Selectivity is critical to the maintenance of the collection in order for the collection to continue to support its core research areas.

Genealogy Databases

Heritage Quest
www.ellisisland.org
www.censusfinder.com

Online Resources

MEL Michigana

Michigan Gen Web

National Archives Great Lakes Region

Archives of Michigan

Census Statistics &  Demographic Data

Michigan Cemetery Sources 

The Making of Modern Michigan

Michigan County Histories & Atlases

Other Helpful Places

Silliman House

116 S. Main St

Three Rivers, MI 49093

269-273-5391

michigandar.com/silliman_house

 

St. Joseph County Historical Society

34 N. Main St.

Three Rivers, MI 49093

Contact: Martha Starmann

269-483-7122

 

 

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