Long Beach Public Library

Contact Information:

  Long Beach Public Library

  Reference Services

  101 Pacific Avenue

  Long Beach, CA 90822-1097

  (562) 570-7500  Telephone

  (562) 570-7408  Fax

Obituary lookup policy:

Does lookups for modest fee of $5 per lookup.  Prepayment required.  Mail requests only with self addressed stamped envelope required.  Provide accurate spelling of name and correct date of death.

Submit requests by

  Email........ No

  US Mail..... Yes

  Fax........... No

Telephone.... No

Webpage..... No

TDD............ No

Email:    [email protected]

Update Date:

       23-May-2003

SCORP Reference: 

     244

Self-addressed stamped envelope required

Genealogical Holdings and other Notes:

Subscribes to Ancestry Plus and Biography and Genealogy Master Index.  Also subscribes to Heritage Quest (in-library use only). 

The Long Beach History Index includes selected articles relating to Long Beach history from local newspapers and other material, such as World War I historical  biographies, in the Long Beach Collection files at the Main Library. The Index begins in 1881 and continues up to the present day. Indexed newspapers include the Daily Telegram, Long Beach Press, Press-Telegram, and many more. Full text obituaries in local newspapers 1901-1912 and from 2002 to date can be found in the Long Beach History Index, part of the library's website.  The obituary project is ongoing and time frame will be extended as the project progresses.

The following directories are available in the Periodicals Department of the Main Library on microfilm: Long Beach City Directories, 1899 - 1969; Long Beach Crisscross Directories, 1973 to the present; Long Beach Phone Directories, 1916 to the present.  

Long Beach High School Annual Collections:  Microfilm editions of high school annuals are available for the following Long Beach schools:  Jordan, 1936 to the present; Lakewood, 1958 to the present; Millikan, 1958 to the present; Polytechnic, 1908 to the present; St. Anthony, 1942 to the present; Wilson, 1927 to the present.  These microfilms may be found in the Periodicals Department at the Main Library and must be used there.

The genealogy collection at the Main Library is comprised of about 2,000 volumes and is supported by Questing Heirs, a volunteer organization which updates and staffs the collection. A volunteer of the local genealogy society is available from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays to assist individuals in their genealogical research.  Some of the highlights of the collection are the Official Registers for the Army, Navy and Coast Guard (microfiche, Government Publications), the War of the Rebellion Series, which contains all official Civil War correspondence and has a personal name index, DAR lineage books, the Boston Transcript query file, and the Periodical Source Index, from 1847 to the present.

Newspaper Holdings