Ask a Librarian

Have a question? Use the Fairfield County District Library to get an answer in one of these ways:

• Visit any Fairfield County District Library location
• Call our Reference Department at (740) 653-2745, ext. 510
• Use KnowItNow 24x7 a chat reference service sponsored by the State Library of Ohio
• Email the Reference Department.

Fairfield County District Library’s Research Guidelines:

The Fairfield County District Library will provide limited research, obituary look ups, and answers to genealogy questions. Requests must be limited to three events or tasks per request. Requests are answered in the order in which they are received.Please allow up to two weeks for your request to be answered. Our staff does not conduct general research and will only consult indexed materials.

Please make sure that your requests follow these guidelines:

1. Requests must be specific in nature.Identifying information (date and place of birth, spouse name, children, location, date of death) should be included with request, when appropriate.

   a. Examples of acceptable requests:


       i. Please locate James Smith, born 1813, Ohio in the 1910,          1920, 1930 census. He lived in Fairfield County, Ohio.Wife:           Susanna, children John, Peter, and Mary.

      ii. Please check for burial information for John Householder in           the Lancaster, Ohio cemetery records. He is listed in the          1910 census but not the 1920.

      iii. Can you locate an obituary for Patrick Johnson who died            September 22, 1913 in Sugar Grove, Ohio?(Please note            that for all obituary requests, we must have a death date.            We will check for a week from the date of death.)

   b. Examples of requests which will not be researched:

      i. Will you check your records for any mention of the John Smith          family of Lancaster, Ohio?

      ii. Can you locate the parents of Sarah James b. 1838, Fairfield           County? 

      iii My grandmother died in Lancaster, Ohio in the 1960s. Can           you provide me with a copy of her obituary?

Please allow up to two weeks for your request to be filled. Requests are filled in the order in which they are received.

Fees: Photocopies are twenty cents per page. Copies of obituaries from the Lancaster Eagle Gazette can be emailed for no charge.

Email Requests: Submit to fcdref@fcdlibrary.org

US Postal (Mail) Requests: Please submit to Reference Department, Fairfield County District Library, 219 N. Broad Street, Lancaster, Ohio 43130.

Telephone Requests: Telephone requests are not recommended, but may be answered as time and staffing allow.Telephone inquiries still require two weeks for the request to be answered. Individuals inquiring by phone may be asked to submit their request by email or postal mail. The library phone number is 740-653-2745, Reference extension 510.

The library reserves the right to discontinue or disregard requests from professional genealogists, fee-based researchers, or patrons who utilize these services excessively.