September 25, 2022
NEPGS FAQ’s
WHAT ARE MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS?
A membership allows you unlimited visits to our research library anytime during your membership year.
Members also receive a discount for the hourly research rate for online research request services done by one of our staff members. The discounted rate is $25/hour, compared to $35/hour for non-members.
Our NEPGS members receive a quarterly e-newsletter with genealogy tips, stories, and information.
But the most important member benefit is your membership funds help NEPGS expand our collection of genealogical resources. That’s more records available for your research. Most important is your membership helps us preserve your ancestors’ records! Every item in our collection was searched out, brought to our facility by volunteers, digitized with camera equipment purchased with membership funds and made available on computers in our research room. All of this is made possible through memberships to our organization.
WHAT ARE YOUR HOURS OF OPERATION?
We are open BY APPOINTMENT ONLY on Thursdays from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. As an all-volunteer organization, if we have no appointments, we do not come in and unfortunately, we are NOT available other days or hours. To make an appointment on a Thursday, please email nepgsmail@gmail.com and request an appointment.
I AM NEW TO GENEALOGY. WHAT KIND OF HELP DO YOU OFFER?
The Society is staffed with volunteers that have a passion for genealogy. We are always on hand if you have questions, need advice or guidance, or want to bounce ideas around. But as a self-guided facility, we don’t research for you unless you engage our research services.
CAN YOU HELP ME WITH DUAL CITIZENSHIP APPLICATION?
We are asked repeatedly for certified documents. As a genealogical society, WE CANNOT CERTIFY OR PROVIDE CERTIFIED COPIES OF ANY RECORD.
For birth records prior to 1906, see our section “locating resources” – https://nepgs.com/locating-resources/
If you cannot locate a birth certificate or the birth was pre-1906, we can help you locate a baptism record if your ancestor was Roman Catholic and attended a church in the Scranton Diocese. See the indexes of our digital collection to determine if your ancestors attended a church in the Scranton Diocese – https://nepgs.com/digital-collection/
However, you will still need to contact the church for a certified copy of the baptism. If the church has closed, contact the Diocese of Scranton for further directions – https://www.dioceseofscranton.org
HOW DO I OBTAIN A CERTIFIED CHURCH SACRAMENTAL RECORD, SUCH AS A BAPTISM, COMMUNION OR CONFIRMATION RECORD?
As a genealogical society, WE CANNOT CERTIFY OR PROVIDE CERTIFIED COPIES OF ANY RECORD. You will need to contact the church where the sacrament occurred for a certified record. If the church has closed, contact the Diocese of Scranton for further guidance – https://www.dioceseofscranton.org
I WAS REFERRED TO YOU BY MY ANCESTORS’ CHURCH. HOW DO I GET COPIES OF MY FAMILY RECORDS?
To obtain church records, you have two options. The first is to become a member, visit our library and search through the records yourself. If you would like a photocopy of the record, the fee is $5 per record. Here’s how to become a member – https://nepgs.com/membership-and-services/
Option two is if you live too far from the Wilkes-Barre area or are unable to search yourself, we provide research for a fee of $35/hour and you don’t need to be a member to use this option. Here’s how to order research – https://nepgs.com/order-research/
I AM LOOKING FOR MY FAMILY RECORDS SUCH AS A PLACE OF BAPTISM AND BURIAL. CAN YOU HELP ME?
Our organization deals specifically with records from Northeastern Pennsylvania. Visit our website nepgs.com and select the digital collection tab to see if we hold any records that may be useful to you. You will only see the titles and not the actual records. To obtain the records there are two options. The first is to become a member, visit our library and search through our records yourself. If you would like a photocopy of the record, the fee is $5 per record.
Option two is if you live too far from the Wilkes-Barre area or are unable to search yourself, we provide research for a fee of $35/hour, and you don’t need to be a member to use this option.
