Well, no, not really. But it can seem like one when you have two hours each way that you can spend chatting with friends and fellow genealogists, or going over your research plan for the second-best genealogy library in the country, instead of having to pay attention to traffic.
The La Porte Genealogical Society will sponsor its annual round-trip bus to the Allen County Public Library on April 21, leaving Michigan City at 7 am and La Porte at 7:30, and returning from the library at 4 pm.
But you cannot thumb a ride that morning, not even with a fistful of cash! SEND IN YOUR RESERVATION AND PAYMENT BEFORE APRIL 1 to Patricia Harris, 504 Greenwood Avenue, Michigan City, IN 46360-5426. Checks payable to the society. Print out your registration form here.
If you haven't been for a while, the library has changed and improved with the times:
(1) All materials are available in open stacks. (Yes, a map is available, and yes, you will need it.)
(2) You can pre-plan your trip by consulting the online catalogs. Both of them. One is for hard-copy books and magazines. The other, in a different part of their web site, is for microtext. Be sure to check them both!
(3) If you use microfilm, there are several electronically operated reader-printers, printing from them is free (so far), and you can also transfer the (zoomable) images from the microfilm to your thumb drive.
(4) There is a branch of Dunkin' Donuts right in the library for your lunching pleasure. Sadly but reasonably, you can't bring your library materials in there to read. Fortunately, that room is also the home of the library's used book sales, and you may find a bargain!
Thanks for the image from Flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohio-roots/383019579/ via Creative Commons:
