This collection had been ten years in the "growing" and benefited from the years of service and generosity of John Denny and his late wife, Amanda who housed the collection in their home. Many other TGS members worked tirelessly on the development of this collection.

The two room suite in the Briar Village Shopping Center provided library space for research as well as room for society business and fellowship. Opening our library also brought in a large number of donations in the form of books, microfilm, and manuscripts. Eventually we began to realize we had outgrown our space.

October 19th, 2004 the Society moved the business office and library to an expanded area in the Briar Village Shopping Center. This new suite provided much-needed space to house the ever-growing additions of donations as well as space for TGS to hold their monthly meetings and mini-workshops. High-speed Internet was made accessible for research and members were invited to bring their own laptop computers.

 The Collection

The original collection of books for Tulsa Genealogical Society comprise what is now known as the "Amanda Ledbetter Denny Research Collection." Provision is also made that any significant donations be labeled as the collection of that donor. Our first such donation is now known as the "Marie Sittler Collection." Marie was a long-time member of TGS and after her death, her collection of books and research papers were donated to the Library by her husband. Since that time we have received other significant donations which are the "Donald A. Wise Collection," the "Rusty Lang Research Collection," the "Mary Louise Hannah Palmer Collection," and the "Betty Welsh Collection." In July of 2003 we were given a significant collection of over 1,600 books, maps, CDs, microfilm and microfiche by Dr. James W. Shaw.

The TGS Acquisitions Committee also purchases books, microfilm, and compact disks with budgeted and donated monies. An early project of the TGS Library was the purchase of the 1900 Arkansas Soundex.

The TGS Library has the microfiche index of Tulsa County Marriages 1907-1994. Also available are extracted Tulsa County marriages, Funeral Home records, cemeteries, voter registration books and other Tulsa materials. Unpublished databases are available on in-house library computers including additional information from funeral home records, Rose Hill Cemetery interment list and old Mobrary Funeral Home records.

Microfilmed copies of The Tulsa Daily World are available through 1914. Additionally there are numerous original Tulsa County Court Record Books at the Library. These books have been indexed to make the information readily available.

The bulk of the TGS Library's materials are books; many on locality subjects, which are shelved by the state. The Oklahoma section is the largest and sections for Oklahoma's neighboring states of Missouri and Arkansas are significant. There are sections on Surnames, Regional Materials, Native American, Military, Emigration, Biographical and Reference books. Many compact disks are available on various topics.

I have had the opportunity of working with the TGS Library since its opening to the public. It is a pleasure to work with this collection and the many people who use the library materials in their genealogical research. It is also a great joy to work with the dedicated volunteers who staff the library. Many of them have continuously volunteered since the opening in November of 1997.

For information regarding the Library and its holdings, please contact the librarian.