Drop-down menus in the library catalog allow you to filter for a specific location or specific subject, or both. Tips.
In the navigation menu are some quick-links to view holdings for a specific subject area.
In-person visits are by appointment only. Please contact the Research Team if you would like to visit the library.
Please visit the Research Request page for instructions how to request research in material owned by the library.
The Research Committee does limited research on Washtenaw County residents. Research is usually limited to materials available in the GSWC library. This includes:
- Birth (1867-1913)
- Marriage (1827-1912)
- Death records (1867-1913)
- Grantor/grantee land deed indexes (1827-1905)
- Probate index
- County, city, and town histories
- Cemetery readings (see Cemetery Records)
- Index of early newspapers
- Early tax records and land records on microfilm
- Washtenaw County plat maps for 1856, 1864, 1874, 1895, and 1915
- Family History Capers (see Washtenaw Research > Capers Name Index or Capers Subject index) (in navigation, left sidebar)
Four unique sources are the indexed files of query/research correspondence; family vertical files; GSWC Member Ancestor Surname Index; and an (earlier) pioneer file.

Image of two men working in a storage room with packing boxes on shelving visible behind them

Dave Curtis (L) and Rob Steward (R) pack up at Hill Street in 2004 when the library was moved to Saline, where it remained until the summer of 2022. The GSWC Library currently is in a storage facility in Ann Arbor and is open by appointment only. The Ann Arbor FamilySearch Center in Saline remains open to the public, but with limited hours.

Wish List

Washtenaw County material that contains significant information of interest to the family researcher
Copies and transcriptions of Bible records, maintained by the GSWC Bible Record Committee
Pedigree charts for members, maintained by the Ancestor Chart Committee
Source material specific to the United States and foreign countries with some exceptions

The GSWC Library Will Not Accept

Published census records, which are readily available online
Material that is primarily historical in nature
Material that is specific to jurisdictions smaller than counties for states (other than Michigan) or the country of Canada
Material that is specific to a jurisdiction smaller than a province for other foreign countries
Family Bibles
Material in the following format:
- Photocopied material that violates copyright
- Periodicals or parts of multivolume sets except when we can use those volumes to fill a gap for a title already in the collection
- CD, DVD, and VCR materials
- Unbound, loose papers
- Books that do not have intact bindings
- Notebooks, scrapbooks or binders that that are not well organized and/or indexed
- Photo albums and personal scrapbooks
- Computer software
- Pedigree charts, oversize familycharts that are not maintained by the Ancestor Chart Committee
- Artifacts and ephemera
- Most large, multi-volume sets even if complete (due to lack of shelf space)

If you are thinking of donating materials, please read our GSWC Library Collection Policy and GSWC Guidelines for Donations of Library Materials & Funds. If you have any further questions, please contact us via our Web Contact Form.

1/22/23 SLB 3/24/24 JT, 10/27/24 JT 1/22/2025 JT