Discover your past whilst staying at home

CARMARTHENSHIRE County Council’s library services are offering families free access to the online Ancestry Library Edition throughout the coronavirus outbreak.

Ancestry.com is a huge resource of genealogy and historical information, with over 20 billion records in its database.

The site has thousands of family trees shared by other members which help identify how ancestors are related and gives clues about birth, marriage, and death information.

It can be accessed with a library card and PIN number. Members will need to click on the Ancestry Library Edition displayed on the right-hand side of the page.

If you would like to join the library during the current temporary closure in order to access free online resources, please contact your local regional library on Monday to Friday between 11am and 2pm. For Llanelli call 01554 744327, Carmarthen 01267 224824 and Ammanford 01269 598360.

Carmarthenshire County Council Leader, Cllr Emlyn Dole said: “Family trees are an excellent resource for filling in gaps in your research or even to simply know where to begin. You can find out how your family story was shaped and discover their amazing past for free whilst staying at home. Please remember your library is available all day, every day online.”

Anyone who lives, works or studies in Carmarthenshire can enjoy the digital library. There are over 19,000 comic books free to download, practice for a driving theory test, download newspapers, learn a new language, choose from over 500 interactive stories and activities for children aged 4-12+ years, learn a new subject, get up to speed on computer software with online tutorials, have access to online academic journals, search through hundreds of encyclopaedias as well as over 200,000 images and audio files, and nearly 200 videos.

Library members are reminded that any items currently on loan will automatically be renewed and no fines will be charged during this lockdown period.