My mom recently introduced me to a new YouTube channel. It’s called Forgotten Lines, and its concept is that James, a professional genealogist, purchases pictures at an antique store and researches the people in the photo. Or he might visit a cemetery and research interesting tombstones he finds.

Anyway, I watched a couple of episodes and noticed James said something really interesting.  He said, “So, I called the library and asked the librarian . . .” Then he proceeded to state what he wanted to find. Lo and behold after he asked for help, the librarians produced some much needed information.

I read through some of the comments on those videos where he asked librarians for help and I saw that more than one person noted how they struggle to ask people for help. Their shyness or aversion to asking kept them from opening their mouths.

A few days later, I was in public and someone said something similar to me. “I find it difficult to ask librarians for what I need.” Which brings me to my point. Don’t be afraid to ask a librarian or archivists for help. Libraries and archives are service organizations. They’re meant to help people find and use the information preserved in their collections.

In my experience, most librarians and archivists are very friendly and want to help. So go ahead and ask. Sure, there’s always the exception to the rule. You might get someone who doesn’t want to help or is rude. But that is usually the exception to the rule. Mostly though, these professionals want to help you navigate their collections. So please, don’t be afraid to ask. Whether you ask by phone, filling out a contact form, or using the chat feature on a website, please use the services they provide so you can fully enjoy your research. Their professional help will make a world of difference in your search.

One last point. It’s easy enough for me to say, “Don’t be afraid to ask,” when in reality, many people have fears and anxieties that I am not experiencing. Asking can be difficult for some people and I realize that. For those of you with those fears, please know that asking for help can open up an entire universe of possibilities. I know from experience.

So instead of me saying “Don’t be afraid to ask,” let me say this—just ask. The librarians and archivists will do their best to help.

P. S. What I mean by asking for help is asking the librarians and archivists for help in finding what information they have in their collections. It’s up to you to do your own genealogy research after that.