The Pike County Historical Genealogical & Preservation Society has received grant funding, through an application process, from the Chapman Foundation, a private trust administered through Troy Bank & Trust. The grant funds were used to purchase a ScanPro 3000  for the Troy Public Library’s Karen C. Bullard Genealogical Research Center.

The ScanPro 3000 is a fast, compact, ultra high-resolution scanner for all microforms.

Members of the historical society visited the genealogical research center Wednesday to see the scanner in operation.

Diane Smith, president of the historical organization, said the Pike County Historical Genealogical & Preservation Society is always interested in helping organizations with a historical focus.

“We are proud to be able to use the funds made available to us from the  Chapman Foundation to benefit genealogical research,” she said.

Genealogy Librarian Karen Bullard took the opportunity to express appreciation to the  Pike County Historical Genealogical & Preservation Society for the generous donation.

“The ScanPro 3000 will provide a top of the line scanner for anyone interested in genealogy to search for vital records, many of which are not online. The scanner can also be used to look up county history,” Bullard said.

The library’s Genealogical Research Center has 1,000 rolls of microfilm that hold records, including births, deaths, marriages, wills, deeds, state records, local newspaper articles and newspaper articles from adjoining counties that share a history with Pike County.

“The genealogical center has the documents that are needed for those who are doing genealogical research,” Bullard said. “Between 80 and 100 rolls of microfilm are used each month.

“What the ScanPro 3000 means for those who are doing research is that the information can be searched, page by page, and printed, emailed to personal accounts or saved to a USP flash drive. Having that information quickly available in those formats is important because many of those who come to the Troy Public Library to do genealogical research come from long distances and are only here for a day or two.”

All members of the Genealogy Research Center staff are knowledgeable about the use of the ScanPro 3000 and are available to assist researchers.

How-to sheets are available as well as an operator’s manual.

Bullard said the ScanPro 3000 takes the center to the top of technology for this type of equipment.

“The technology is amazing,” she said. “The quality of print is high tech and the scanner provides users with opportunities to clean up documents that are faded or too dark. The images can be brightened or contrasted and be brought up to beautiful copies. It is amazing what this scanner can do and what it will mean to those who are doing research.”

And, those doing research are almost daily visitors to the Karen C. Bullard Genealogy Center, which has the largest collection of genealogy information in the Southeast.

“We’ve had visitors from every state except three,” Bullard said. “They are always impressed with the volume of information that we have and with the knowledge of our staff about the information that we have and its ability to retrieve it so quickly.”

Bullard said the new scanner will also make it possible for the staff to handle out-of-town requests. The information can be pulled up and emailed directly to them.

Bullard believes there will be continuing interest in genealogical research among people of all ages.

“As we get older, we just want to know more about our family histories, she said. “When parents come in looking for information to fill out family trees for their babies, once they get started, they want to know more.”

The same is true of many students who are required to trace their ancestry back a specified time.

“It’s just natural to want to know more about your family history,” Bullard said. “We thank the Pike County Historical Genealogical & Preservation Society for the generous gift of the scanner that will make it easier and quicker to get information in the hands of those who are interested in historical research and preservation.”