Maryland Room Charges to Out of State Researchers Policy

The Maryland Room is happy to help all people utilize our materials and to offer research advice on genealogy and local history topics. We give priority to Maryland residents and on-site visitors, therefore, we have a limited amount of time we can spend on assisting with out of state queries.

We are happy to fill photocopy requests, including photocopies of items from the Linton-Holdcraft Obituary Collection, for just the cost of copying and postage. (Please see Photocopying and Microfilm Printing Services Provided by the C. Burr Artz Public Libraries Maryland Room.) We are able to answer questions that do not require lengthy research, questions that take under 15 minutes to answer (for example, checking the index of a book, confirming a citation, etc.), free of charge.

In addition, we provide in-depth research services for queries that require investigation or interpretation and that take a significant amount of time. This service is free to Maryland residents or to out of state individuals with a Frederick County Public Libraries card. For all others our base fee is $20.00, nonrefundable. This $20.00 fee covers up to two hours of research and includes postage and up to 5 photocopies. The fee is payable by cash, or money order or check, made out to FCPL. Investigation will begin once payment is received. Additional copies will be billed at $.20 cents per page, with your permission.

Requests should be in letter format, clearly stating your need, and providing any related information to assist us in the search. To prevent a duplication of effort, please let us know what sources and institutions you have already consulted. Requests can be submitted via e-mail to mdroom@fcpl.org. You will receive the results of our research within 6 weeks. We cannot guarantee that we will have success in our search. We will, however, check all likely sources within our collection and advise on further avenues of research.

Approved by the Board of Trustees of Frederick County Public Libraries on March 4, 2009