Castro Valley Library Genealogy Study Group

Our next Meeting will be in the Wednesday, March 18, 2026 from 10:30am-12:30 pm at the Castro Valley Library. 3600 Norbridge Avenue, Castro Valley, CA 94546 and will be hosted by Wayne Ainsworth.

This free, Castro Valley Library sponsored, genealogy study group normally meets the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month, However, our meeting dates may be altered due to other activites needing our space in the library. Any changes will be posted here. This is our current schedule:

Please note that during tax season (February - April, 2026) the schedule may vary.

• March 18, 2026 (Usual Room)
• April 1, 2026 (Teen Room)
• April 15 2026 (Usual Room)
• May 6, 2026 (usual room; Wayne's last class as facilitator)

Class notes will be available at the meeting and on the website.

At the January 21st session we learned about a new FamilySearch feature, Family Groups in the Family Tree Menu. This allows families to share information with each other about living relatives, but keep it private. It's explained in these two videos 6 Minutes 23 Seconds and 46 minutes 40 seconds.

At the August 7th, 2024 session, we tried writing a letter to a DNA match wanting to encourage a response using a prompt with https://perplexity.ai.

If you haven't tried it, the Full Text Search feature of FamilySearch is in the Search Menu, is amazing. There are over 6,600 collections already with billions of microfilm images full-text searchable. See for yourself.

If you don't see the latest class notes, please refresh your internet browser. The site is updated twice/month.

Here are some Descendancy Research Tips from an April 2024, Denise Plaskett handout at a recent Oakland FamilySearch Library presentation.

On January 4, 2018, Wayne Ainsworth supplied a new version of his Genealogy Toolbox with an updated genealogy blog section.

Some links in our class notes may not work, since they point to the Rootsweb.com web site (now owned by Ancestry.com) with much of their content frozen or taken down.

A Facebook Page was created at https://www.facebook.com/cacvgg/. If you "Like" the page your Facebook feed will be notified with updates. We created it during a class to show how easy it is to create your own Facebook page.

If you are looking for help with your family history research or just the companionship of others with the genealogy bug, please come join us! It's FREE! Check our Class Notes for handouts from past meetings. Pat from the class, suggested a web site for occupation abbreviations. This and more were added to our Class Notes page

Each meeting will feature a presentation by our experienced docents or a guest speaker. There will also be time for research and Q &A using the Windows laptops we provide.

• Beginning or experienced genealogists are welcome.
• Use a library Windows laptop or bring your own.
• Meets the 1st and 3rd Wednesday monthly from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm. (except when the schedule changes are requred by holidays and other events).

There are a couple of favorite web pages... A DNA Centimorgan Chart to help determine closeness of DNA matces and a 2nd Cousins Chart to make cousin relationships understandable.

A couple of paths to genealogy information at the library:

• https://aclibrary.org/resources/history-biography-genealogy/
• https://aclibrary.org/?origin=user-query&post_type=&s=genealogy

When visiting the library, please utilize the Genealogy eResources. At that web page, with your Alameda County Library Card, you may log into the commercial genealogy websites, Ancestry Library Edition, MyHeritage or HeritageHub. Explanations of each site are provided.

Some additional (free) Sites to use are::

• Cyndi's List
• FamilySearch
• Findagrave
• Rootsweb
• USGenweb
• WorldGenWeb

Contact: Castro Valley Library (510) 667-7900. Registration for the class is suggested.

Location: CASTRO VALLEY BRANCH
3600 Norbridge Avenue, Castro Valley, CA 94546

Most recently updated March 4, 2026