Bookend libraries: Resources from 2 LDS Church libraries go hand in hand

A couple of misconceptions persist regarding the Church History Library, opened in June by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It's not a relocation of the church's Family History Library.

And while the Church History Department enjoys its own separate building, the new library is not the sole, end-all location of all LDS matters historical.

In fact, the Church History Library — with its reading and research rooms, conservation and storage areas and accompanying array of department offices — is the central facility of several related assets benefiting not just the historical department itself but the LDS Church as a whole.

Those include the Church History Library's sister institution, the Family History Library.

Some confusion between the libraries stems from the two respective departments being brought under one umbrella — the Family and Church History Department — earlier this decade, later returning as separate entities in April 2008.

Additional confusion dates to the early 1970s, when the library facilities were both located in the newly constructed Church Office Building — Church History in the east wing, Family History in the west wing.

The Family History Library earned its own separate digs first, with the genealogical-research facility moving in 1985 to its current building at 35 N. West Temple, just west of Temple Square.

The 230,000-square-foot Church History Library itself sits on prime property, on the northeast corner of North Temple and Main streets facing its three prominent intersectional neighbors — the Salt Lake Temple, the LDS Conference Center and the Church Office Building.

The two libraries again serve as bookends, from the wings of the Church Office Building to opposite ends of the church's downtown campus.

Despite the distinctions, some library patrons have been confused — some asking when the Family History Center will be moving to the new site, others entering the Church History Library seeking family-history assistance.

"When they heard about the building of the Church History Library, they heard 'family history' in their heads," said Paul Nauta, FamilySearch public-affairs manager, adding some members consider "their family history is church history, and vice versa."