What first drew you/how did you get involved in family history and preservation work?
I often think that my entry into this field involved cosmic intervention.
Finding a career path (as an extreme introvert) took time. I felt directionless my first year of college, and a doctor suggested that I research my family’s history. He thought that learning about my ancestors’ perseverance would help. I had never heard of genealogy and the idea resonated with me.
At a tour of my college’s library, it became apparent that librarianship was my niche. Eventually, I fell into a genealogy librarian position, where I immersed myself in family history both personally and professionally. As I added generations to my tree, the best way to describe it is that I realized I had been free falling and now I could see the ground forming.
After more than 20 years of research, I feel like I am standing on solid ground. It is such a comfort to know where I came from. I consider it a privilege to assist others in tracing their family history and to play a role in making genealogical records accessible for those who come after us.
What does a typical day of work or research look like for you?
As a public reference librarian with the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (B&ECPL), my primary responsibility is to assist researchers with the library’s resources and offer research advice. So many people came through Buffalo due to the Erie Canal and the city’s burgeoning industry of centuries past. Genealogists from across the U.S. and Europe email or visit the Grosvenor Room.
I teach online and in-person classes throughout our region and I frequently design new lectures and workshops. Course topics often pertain to our most commonly asked questions, but I also like to teach researchers about lesser-known resources and their applications to family history.
I work closely with my department’s senior pages, managing and creating some of their projects. They are the staff who index our records. Another aspect of my job that involves record accessibility is creating and updating finding aids.
The Grosvenor Room staff works as a team to select materials for digitization. We try to strike a balance between the types of records that are offered online. Our collections are available at https://www.buffalolib.org/research-resources/digital-collections.
The library partners with local genealogical societies, and I am their liaison. Two societies house their collections in the Grosvenor Room, and we partner with local groups for programs, projects, and tours.
What particular skills or perspectives do you bring to your work and research?
Heart, creativity, and knowledge of genealogy resources. I’m a serious record nerd and there’s nothing that I love more than sinking my teeth into a newly discovered record set.
I’m a public librarian through and through. Public libraries are an important societal equalizer, offering information, training, technology, and a myriad of other resources. I have a strong conviction for freedom of information, including the right to know our ancestral history.
I also believe that there can be psychological benefits of family research, though I acknowledge that everyone may not have a positive experience.
What are you most proud about your work in this field?
Whenever someone tells me that my work has helped them.
What have been some challenges and how did you navigate them?
Two years after I began working in the Grosvenor Room, the Library System suffered substantial budget cuts. My department’s staffing was cut by half. I was laid off and then rehired part-time. Prioritization was key and projects slowed down or never came to fruition.
I started a research business to supplement my income. It was devastating to lose a job that I loved, but by taking on clients, I gained significant hands-on experience and became a greater asset to our library patrons.
The pandemic, of course, had a major impact on the library. Patrons were more hesitant to research in person. Our department pivoted, and we now offer more remote services, including online programs, new digital collections, and expanded research services.
A challenging project I worked on was the Buffalo’s Neighborhoods digital exhibit, which explores Buffalo’s migrant and immigrant heritage through narratives, historical records, and artifacts. It is such an important project, and we wanted to capture our community’s diverse heritage faithfully. That was a formidable task in short narratives. The project is also meant to promote our local genealogical societies, which contributed written and visual content. It is available at https://nyheritage.org/exhibits/buffalos-neighborhoods-exploring-our-migrant-immigrant-heritage.
Can you share with us or give us a glimpse of what's next on the horizon for you?
Some forthcoming Grosvenor Room projects are the digitization of Buffalo Central High School student ledgers (1865–1909), microfilm preservation of 20th-century Buffalo-area telephone books and city directories, and the integration of the Western New York Genealogical Society’s library holdings in the B&ECPL’s online catalog.
Personally, I’m looking toward genealogical certification. I’m in ProGen Practicum 4 (which is excellent) and I’m hoping to go on the clock next year.
I’ve also started a website as an outlet to share my genealogical perspective and research guidance for my favorite genealogy records. The site is Cat Eye Genealogy at https://cateyegenealogy.com/.
What advice would you give to someone thinking about undertaking family history and preservation work, particularly other women?
When you do what you love, you excel.
Start looking at position openings to learn about job requirements. At the B&ECPL most of our positions fall under civil service. Tailor your education and experiences to meet civil service or other requirements. Good websites to look for library jobs in New York are library resource councils (https://nyheritage.org/councils), state and local civil service (https://www.cs.ny.gov/jobseeker/), and the State University of New York (https://www.suny.edu/careers/employment/).
Gain experience through as many means as possible such as internships, directed studies, and volunteering with genealogical and historical organizations. Volunteer for tasks that you enjoy.
You may need to take a position outside of your ideal locale in order to gain enough experience for a job’s requirements. I worked out of state for 11 years before I came back home to Western New York.