Connecticut State Library
231 Capitol Ave
Hartford, T 06106
860-757-6500
On our New England
trip we got to go to this library for a short time. Although by the time we got
there one afternoon, it was late and we didn’t have much time, it was well
worth it. We now know a bit about the library and will be ready to hit the
ground running when we get another chance to visit here. It is located in
downtown Hartford, just across the way from the capital building. Like the
capital, it is built in a classical style and has steps at the front of the
building that look as though they climb for about a mile. Especially if you’re
challenged by stairs, like me, don’t arrive at the top gasping for breath.
Here’s a hint, walk around to the back! There’s an entrance on that side that
is on ground level. The stairs enter on the second floor, and after you go
through the metal detector at security, you’ll enter the legal portion of the
library and have to return to the first floor anyway.
The library is open
Tuesday-Friday: 9am-5pm and Saturday: 9am-2pm. During the week you might want
to leave a little before closing or find a place to hang out for a while after
it closes. At least if you’re like us and not used to rush hour in a large
city, because you will be definitely heading out into it!
Printing from the
computers requires a Vendacard. Photocopying can be done with the Vendacard or
coin. Either one cost 15 cents. A Vendacard
(much like a plastic credit card) costs one dollar and contains 70 cents worth
of copies on it initially. These can be refilled in various dollar increments.
Microfilm and fiche printing is 25 cents, but only 20 cents if you use the
card. You can also scan items and either email them to somebody (like
yourself!) or put them on a thumbdrive. There is more details about this on
their website.
This library of
course, has records for all over the state of Connecticut. Books, microfilms, vertical
files and much more. There’s a special collections/ archives within the library
with rare items as well. The archives has limited access, but everything else
you are completely free to browse through. At one point, I had completed the
question I was working on as far as I could, so instead of going to the next
one, I got up and took a walk. I walked out into “the stacks”, the area which
is just shelf after shelf filled with books. I wandered up and down the aisles in
the stacks for a few minutes just randomly looking at titles and picking one or
two off the shelf on occasion. In doing so, I found one completely at random
that had information about a family of mine that I hadn’t thought to research.
Have you ever worked
with the Barbour collection? It is an index of vital records from across the
state up to about 1850 collected under the direction of Lucius Barnes Barbour, State Examiner of Public Records from
1911-1934. If you have, then you know what a treasure these records are! They
are available on microfilm and in book form many places throughout the country.
But did you know that the original slips of paper with transcriptions from the
records that were used to create this index still exist? In a hallway behind
the reference desk, you will find many card catalog drawers and some house this
original that you can actually see and touch! There are over a million slips
filed alphabetically and then chronologically here.
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