StLGS News to Start the New Year

As the new year begins and a huge storm engulfs most of the country, we thought we'd bring you a bit of cheer with a few items of interest from our society. Our social media reach is expanding, and we want you to know how and where to get the latest information from us. And, at this time of end-of-year giving (and upcoming spring cleaning), we're restating our policies on what types of donated materials we can accept.

Access to the Latest StLGS News

The unpredictability of weather this past weekend reminds us that it's important to make sure you know where to access the most recent information about cancellations and office closings, and that is, of course, our website and social media accounts. The quickest and most reliable way for us to reach everyone, members and non-members alike, is by posting information online. So, if you are uncertain whether an event is cancelled or if the office will be open or closed, please remember to let your fingers do the walking . . .

The home page of our website will have announcements posted at the top, and that should be the first place you look for current news. In addition, we post announcements in our Facebook group and on our Instagram, X/Twitter, Threads, and BlueSky accounts. You can access all of our social media accounts (including our new BlueSky account) from the home page of our website. Just look for the little icons on the upper right side of the page.

Mailing the Quarterly

We have a new membership database in our office that will now allow us to email links to our Quarterly journal to all of our members. Prior to this year, members who paid for a paper copy didn't get the link to the electronic copy, but that will now be possible beginning with the winter issue. Don't worry if you are paying for a paper copy, it will still be coming in the mail.

Please keep in mind:

1. The links for access to the digital Quarterly always go out via email about a week before the paper copies.
2. The paper copies are sent as bulk mail, so they may be held up along the way if the U.S. postal service deems it necessary.
3. It costs StLGS pennies to send the electronic copies, whereas the paper copies must be printed, labeled, sorted, and mailed, all of which incur costs in materials and time.

Donations of Materials to StLGS

During the past few weeks, we've had generous individuals coming by the office to donate genealogy and history books, which we appreciate very much. However, we've also had numerous offers to donate periodicals, photos, old computer software, and charts of all sizes and descriptions. We know it's important for people to find homes for their unwanted materials and family memorabilia, but we just cannot accept those items. We have no place to store them, nor can we keep anything in archival conditions.

We have an active Trading Post in our front lobby where we offer gently used books for sale, and we love getting your donations for that purpose. The guidelines for what we can and cannot accept are on the Trading Post page on our website. Also on that page is a link to the guidelines that you can download as a PDF and print out, if you want to share it or refer to it offline.

If you have items that are unique to St. Louis or Missouri history, please contact the Missouri Historical Society Library and Research Center or the Missouri State Archives and speak with one of the archivists about possibly donating to them.