If you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or an avid family history researcher, you may be familiar with the Church’s Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. The library is an amazing resource for genealogists of all kinds. There are thousands of resources from all over the world there for you to search. While you are certainly able to plan your own trip to the Family History Library, there are “tours” that you can sign up for and turn your library visit into an in-depth family history research experience, complete with help from expert researchers. Many different tours are offered by genealogical societies and private firms in the Salt Lake City area.
One of these events is the Salt Lake Christmas Tour, which will take place on December 5-11, 2010. This particular tour is well established, and it is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The leaders of the tour, Leland K. Meitzler, Donna Potter Phillips, and Bill Balter, say that December is a great time to visit the Family History Library because people are busy with holiday things and the library is not as crowded as it usually is.
The Salt Lake Christmas Tour uses the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel for its “home base”, for lodging, breakfast, and classes during the tour. The hotel is conveniently located within walking distance of the library. Professional genealogists that are associated with the tour are available to help tour attendees with their research during the time that the group is at the library. For example, last year, there was one professional researcher on the tour for every seven attendees. The high ratio of professionals to attendees keeps many people coming back again and again – the Salt Lake Christmas Tour has a very high rate of return attendees. Between the classes and the professional assistance available during the tour, it’s no wonder that many attendees report that they are able to break through brick walls and get a lot of research done during their tour.