The other week, I was decrying the disappearance of used bookstores and the declining reading habits of many Americans. It is easy to jump on this little chestnut. And when I did, I quietly heard the song lyrics, “Why can’t they be like we are, perfect in every way? What’s the matter with kids today?” We do live in an era when a big library is not something that is popular among young or old. Look at the rock bottom prices for books in the secondary market. The internet provides all of us with a fast resource that beats having shelves of books.
That being said, I was looking at my own bookshelf and realized that inadvertently I had started a collection of books that related to my own family’s story. I am not talking about ubiquitous family Bibles, but rather about books that tie directly to the history of my family. This past weekend, we went for a visit to the Wilderness Battlefield here in Virginia. A four or five generation back great uncle died there having fought in dozens of battles, being shy of his enlistment expiring by only a few weeks. The place, despite the clearing of the woods and the overdevelopment of much of rural Virginia, still carries a sense of place. The book on the history of the battle is now on my shelf as part of the history of my family.
This has become an interesting area for me to collect, as I have started to seek out county histories, city directories, and other similar publications where my family is mentioned. An atlas of Crawford County, Pa., from the 1870s helped me to find the family farm in 2016 when I overlaid it with a modern county map. Similarly, a city directory helped me to locate a family store despite a bad effort at renumbering houses.
As I have gotten deeper into my genealogy thanks to Ancestry.com and its DNA test (which I do recommend to everyone), this has led me down paths to read and learn more about the larger history of the time. From the genealogy, I am now far more interested in, and reading about, the story of the Plymouth colony and also the War of 1812. These events, as connected to me, are that much more interesting, and I want to read and learn more.
Such a collection is also something that can be passed on to the next generation. An appreciation by them of their family can be built upon and supported by a library of new and old books. For my daughters, I have purchased duplicate copies of some books so that they can each hold onto that bit of history. The story of their great grandfather in the first World War is written about in the history of his regiment, and so both girls will end up with a copy for the future.
History is about identity, and so this is a great opportunity, through buying books connected to your family, to make that link.

Peter Seibert, a native Pennsylvanian, grew up in the antiques business and remains closely tied to auction houses, collectors, and dealers. Professionally, he has served as a museum director and public historian in Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Virginia. He holds an M.A. in American Studies from Penn State and has authored two books and numerous articles on decorative arts, interior design, and history.