What is the Seibert Library and Research Center
The Seibert Library is a small genealogy library with a fairly extensive collection of local history and genealogy resources. The focus of the holdings include Elizabethtown and surrounding towns and counties in the Central PA region. The collection includes books, periodicals, over 50 oral histories on tapes and transcripts, maps, photographs, yearbooks, family histories, and other historical documents and valuable artifacts.
An archive of local and family history was established at the Museum when the Heritage House Genealogy Library Committee formed on September 4, 1990. Several volunteers from the community, some librarians, became committed to developing a genealogy library at the then fledgling museum. In 1991 a lifetime resident of Elizabethtown presented the first book of the library’s collection. Another prominent resident donated a collection of materials that became the nucleus of the library.
Over the years, the size and scope of the library collection grew. In 1998, with generous contributions from the Seibert family, the Heritage House Genealogy Library moved to a larger remodeled space within the first floor of the museum. As a tribute to the Seibert family benefactors, the Board of Directors renamed the library.
Lori Donofrio-Galley and
Genealogy Librarian, Mary Karnes, enjoy jazz at the
Museum’s 20-year anniversary.
Mission Statement
The Seibert Library and Resource Center collects and preserves oral histories, artifacts, documents, writings, photographs and videos related to the people and history of the greater Elizabethtown area. These are available for viewing or consultation by the public. A genealogy librarian and genealogy volunteers are always available to assist researchers of family and local history. Researchers may use resources and materials available from the library and a growing number of online databases.
Interested in volunteering at the library? Download our library brochure.
We Remember Ruth M. Seibert, Seibert Library Benefactor
Ruth (1918-2011) passed away on January 1, 2011, at Masonic Village. She was the daughter of the late Clarence and Lillie Dieffenbach Seibert. Ruth was an active supporter of the museum and its in-house genealogy library since 1997 when plans for a Seibert Library & Research Center began to form. At the time, Ruth and her siblings funded the expansion and relocation of the genealogy library. In the years following the fall 1998 dedication of the Seibert Library, Ruth volunteered weekly, entering deed and obituary information into the research database. She often worked closely with Louise Black, and occasionally, she introduced family members to her work in the library. Ruth even organized and hosted a 95th birthday party for brother Mark, now deceased, in the 1812 Room several years ago.
In 2002, Ruth published Clarence and Lillie, a book she authored about her parents’ heritage, their lives, and their progeny. Although Ruth had moved from Maple Street to Mount Joy a few years ago, she remained active at the museum until recently.
