My $6 library card replacement turned into a 2 hour rabbit hole

I lost my wallet last Tuesday and had to pay $6 for a new library card at the downtown branch. While waiting for the clerk to print it, I asked about their local history section and ended up finding a 1977 city directory. Spent the next two hours looking up my grandparents' old address and even found their neighbor listed. Has anyone else ever gone in for one small thing and gotten sucked into the archives for way too long?

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leelewis24d ago

Check the library's website before you go next time. They usually have a digitized index of old city directories and yearbooks, so you can search from home first and save yourself the trip. Once you're in the building though, you're done for. I did the same thing with a 1965 phone book, ended up mapping out my whole childhood block on a scrap piece of paper. Bring a notepad and a camera phone, trust me, you'll want to grab photos of the pages because you won't remember half of it later. And if the clerk gives you a weird look, just tell them you're doing genealogy, they'll leave you alone.