What’s In The Library

Books and periodicals – Whether you have ancestors from the South, Mid-Atlantic, New England, Midwest, the West or California, you will find books, periodicals and resources to support your genealogy research. We also have holdings on Canada, the United Kingdom and other countries.

City directories – CGS has a variety of city directories with an emphasis on directories of the San Francisco Bay Area.

6 Patron Computers and a large format scanner/printer/copier for patron use.

Internet access and subscription websites– Bring your laptop or use one of our computers. CGS has library subscriptions to the following, accessible from any computer on our network while in the library, including WiFi. Note: Use of our computers and access to subscription websites is free to Members. Non-Members must pay a daily use fee.

  • Ancestry.com Library Edition
  • Fold3
  • Americanancestors.org
  • NewspaperArchive.com
  • Vitalsearch-Worldwide.com
  • HistoryGeo

Our computers also have handy links to:

  • California Genealogy
  • Digital Public Library of America
  • Family History Archives
  • Family Search
  • Historic American Newspapers
  • Information Wanted
  • Library of Congress Catalog
  • Rootsweb
  • S.F. Genealogy

Manuscript collection – Discover our unique manuscript collection which contains pedigree charts, letters and information that is available only at our library.

Vertical File – Dive into the treasure trove in our Vertical File collection of families and places. Search our on-line index which includes a synopsis of each file, providing information to help you determine if coming to the Library to examine the file would be beneficial to your research.

Microfilm/Microfiche holdings include records from Australia, Canada, England, France, Ireland, and many U.S. states. Search the catalog and after filling in your search terms and clicking “search” select “microform” in the “Formats” checkbox on the “results” page.

Newsletters from many other genealogical societies from around the country.

Large Pedigree Charts – The library has a substantial collection of large-format pedigree charts mostly made in the early years of the 20th century. They’re in the map drawers next to the classroom door. The link leading this paragraph is an all-surname index of the charts.

Alameda County Obituary Forms 1968 – 1977, an all-name index to three binders of obituary forms submitted to the San Leandro Morning News and the Alameda Star Times newspapers.