My FHC has 120 microfilms that need to be returned (in South Australia). How do I go about this?
My FHC has 120 microfilms that need to be returned (in South Australia). How do I go about this?
Best Answer
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This information is what I needed, and needs to be updated for FHCs.
Sister Field,
This information is actually out of date. The film and fiche that was sent to Family History Centers are copies of what we already have. Since we have digitized our film, we have no need for these copies to be sent back to Salt Lake. If they were, we would just get rid of them.
Our new suggestion is for each center to get rid of the film and fiche themselves. There are facilities that will burn microform items, you can have them professionally shredded or just sit and cut them all, or you can take them directly to a landfill if your county allows these types of materials. We just need to ensure that they are not in a public disposal site where anyone can come along and take them. As a library, our contracts with the owners of the records and information on each film and in each purchased book is to be a custodian only, and to return any copies you have to the Family History Library in Salt Lake for proper handling or destroy them locally. We can never sell or give microfilm or microfiche to anyone, even partner companies or affiliate libraries, or we will be in violation of the law. If you need to have them destroyed by a facility, please let the Area Authority over your center know so that payment for such can be approved.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Natalie Reese
FamilySearch International
Donations
35 N West Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84150
801.240.1855
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Answers
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I am not connected with FamilySearch.
I hope someone will answer your question, but in the meantime you may find it of interest to read https://community.familysearch.org/en/discussion/113437/returning-over-4-000-microfilms-from-canada
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You could try the following
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Are pre-printed address labels still being issued for the return of microfilms in Australia? I have twice requested that some be sent, the last time just over a month ago, with no response.
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As mentioned in my previous post, I am not connected with FamilySearch.
As a general statement, many of the Help Center articles I have seen have incorrect email addresses. It is therefore possible that the Help Center article posted above has an email address which is now no longer correct. Another alternative is that they no longer have pre-printed address labels, but can't be bothered to tell you.
Perhaps you could try the options for persons in Australia to contact FamilySearch which are set out in the link https://www.familysearch.org/en/fieldops/asia-australia-new-zealand-pacific-islands-and-philippines-contact-us
I think this is a fairly new page, so it should be currently correct. There is an email given, or you can schedule an appointment which is via Google Meet
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The article I quoted above has links to another article. In there is mention of another email address books@familysearch.org. I know that the article says that you should not use this if you are based in Australia but, if you are not getting a reply from the first email, it is worth trying this one instead explaining that you have tried to contact the first email address without success.
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The knowledge article on this has recently been updated. Not sure whether the email is different
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Thank you for your reply. However, I have sent messages to that particular email twice without any response.
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I have also just followed your suggestion of trying the books@familysearch email.
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Request submitted to have knowledge article updated.
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If the films are in the FHC's and are potentially still being used, why would people need to destroy them at all?
I'd leave it up to the FHC. If they're copies of things which are digitized and they want to keep the original film or fiche and they have the capacity to store them, I'd suggest keeping them. Never hurts.
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