When Emily Schroeder was in seventh grade, she traced her relatives back to the Civil War as part of a class project.

  Filling in the blanks in her family tree with the names of real people, who had homes, and occupations and achievements of their own gave her a sense of who she was and where she came from, said Schroeder, a reference librarian at the Maine State Library.

  And in the process, she discovered a life-long passion for history on a personal scale“It is the tying together of history and people and places and why people lived where they did and why they did what they did. It all adds up to why we are who we are,” she said.

  Schroeder, who teaches genealogy classes at the Maine State Library and writes a monthly column on genealogy for the Capital Weekly in Augusta, will offer a class at St. Andrews Village Sunday, Jan. 29 at 2 p.m.

  That class will focus largely on how to start your own genealogy study with resources available in the Maine State Library or through the Internet.

  Genealogy has grown in popularity over the years as has the number of different resources available to amateur sleuths.At the Maine State Library there are family histories, town histories, ship passenger lists and many other resources for Maine as well as records on many other parts of New England as well.

  Because the Maine State Library maintains a membership in online databases, patrons are welcome to log on to sites such as www.ancestry.com and HeritageQuest from computers at the library and search their own history.

  Schroeder said many people become interested in genealogy out of an interest in learning more about where they actually came from, and sometimes out of a desire to get to the truth about old family legends.“I think they feel a real personal connection to their family history.”

  People who have taken her class have been able to trace their ancestors to the Revolutionary War and even find records of their ancestors’ service.  Schroeder will provide information about resources available at the Maine State Library as well as online at the class, including many handouts.

  “There is a lot here and people need to know about it and use it,” said Schroeder.

  For more information about genealogy resources at the Maine State Library call Schroeder at 287-5600. The program at St. Andrews Village is free, but space is limited. Please call Laury Dalton at 633-0920 to RSVP.