GENEALOGY RECORDS DONATION INFORMATION

A suggestion: how about donating copies of the family Bible records that you have to The Library of Virginia? They have well over 6000 Bible records that they make available online 24/7 at no cost, and yours could be added to the number they have.

The search pages that let you access these (and other archives documents) are located as follows:

Basic Search: Archives/Manuscripts

Advanced Search: Archives/Manuscripts

Both of these will allow you to search the Archives/Manuscripts Collection.

There are over 6000 Bible records online. The Library of Virginia will accept your clear photocopies/scans of family Bibles, and will make these copies available for in-person visitors, but also, after several months of processing time, will make them available on the 'net through the search features listed above. While Archives/Manuscripts materials do not circulate, so they cannot be checked out via interlibrary loan, when they are available online, everyone can access them at any time. This is an important way for people in possession of family Bibles to make sure that if anything ever happens to the original, the information is not lost.

I'd suggest photocopying/scanning not only the marriages, births and deaths pages, but also the title page and the page with the publishing information on it (also the page, if there is one, which says "Presented to" with that information). Include a letter with your photocopies/scans that indicates you are donating the copies to the Library, and provide a title of the Bible (e.g. "Smith Family Bible," "John Q. Smith Family Bible," "Smith-Jones Family Bible"). Also include a list of the surnames included in the Bible pages you are submitting. If the writing is very faint, it's a good idea to send a typed up transcript page for each page – send the photocopy/scan even if it is faint, but include a transcript page so it can be easily read. Include your name and address as donor, and include also the name and location of the person in whose custody the actual Bible is, if it's other than you. It's a good idea to send the material flat (no folds) in a manila envelope with a piece of cardboard for stiffener and mark it "Photos – Do Not Bend" on the outside, so the Post Office won't play Frisbee with it. (Print it out on the best paper you have - scans can be printed out on photo paper, e.g.). Send your letter, copies/scans of Bible records to The Library of Virginia, Archives, 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219.

ALWAYS REMEMBER to take out birthdates and marriage dates for living persons! You don't want to provide information which can be used in identity theft! Don't, of course, change the actual information on the Bible pages - just when you make the scan or the copy, put a small square or rectangle of white paper over the dates you want to block out. You can put a note on the transcript that dates for living persons have been deleted from the scan or copy.

This way family Bible records can be available to all, whether you're in Virginia or far from it. A good deed to do while you are thinking of it. I have done this with three family Bibles, and all three are now online. Those of us who do genealogical research, whether as a hobby or for a profession, should remember that we have a duty to preserve our records of the past in the best form possible for the generations to come, and this is certainly one way to do exactly that!