was formally organized on 25 February 1970 . There were seven founding members. They were: Evalyn Brady, Sibyl Stratmann, Maurine Weisgerber, Sherry Woodruff, Lucille O'Brien, Edith and Mary Scott. They had no books. The first book purchased by the newly formed Society was "Daughter's of the American Revolution Patriot's Index." From that one purchase 50 years ago, the library has grown to includ
e 10,000+ volumes of genealogical material covering most of the 50 states and several foreign countries. SVGS is an all-volunteer organization, governed by a Board of Directors. There is no permanent or paid staff. All operating expenses are paid by the volunteer membership. Members regularly donate their time, skills, and energy to its operation. The library is open to the public 20 hours per week. The library is located in the Smoky Hill Museum building. It was given a suite of rooms on the second floor by the SHM to allow museum curators easy access to the library's vast collection of Saline County materials. Indexes of many local collections are found on the library's website at: splks.org
SVGS is happy to announce that we are going to be able to re-open our library in October 2020. Due to the nature of the Covid virus, we are not re-opening on a daily basis, but rather a very limited one. We need to test the waters first before jumping into the deep end of the pool. With that being said, we will open by appointment only on the first and third Tuesday and the first and third Friday. Several members have volunteered to be available should someone make an appointment. We are offering time slots of an hour and half between the hours of noon and 4 p.m. You may request the appointment time of Noon to 1:30 p.m. or 2 to 3:30 p.m. In between appointments, we will do our best to clean and sanitize common areas. Each person will be required to wear a mask while in the building and library. Hand sanitizer will be available to use prior to entering the library. We ask that you email me (ksancestors@gmail.com) with your appointment request 48 hours prior to your visit. If no one requests a time slot, the library will remain closed for that day. We will not be turning our internet back on at this time, so there will be no computer availability unless you bring your own laptop or tablet. There is guest wi-fi availability within the building.
