Requirements to be a Boy Scouts California

The library offers a monthly workshop to help Boy Scouts earn the Genealogy Merit Badge. The workshop is held the second Saturday of each month from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM

Maximum of 10 scouts per class.

Dates of Upcoming Workshops

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015 / 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015 / 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015 / 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Requirements to be completed before coming to the library:

• Contact a family member by telephone, e-mail or letter, and interview them about their life. Ask about events that have occurred and where they happened. Record the information you learn and bring this information to the workshop.
• Complete two family group sheets, one listing your parents and all of the children in your family, and another listing one of your parents and their siblings in a family group with your grandparents. Click here for a .pdf fill-in family group sheet. The information can also be handwritten. Bring this information to the workshop.
• Please also bring the name of an ancestor or relative who was alive in 1940.
• List 8 to ten important events in your life (time line) and bring the list to the workshop.
• Using your time line, write a short autobiography of your life and bring it to the workshop.

If Scouts complete the items above before coming to the library, and bring their documents with them, they will be able to complete the following requirements at the library, and have authorized personnel certify the completion of their merit badge requirements.

Requirements to be completed at the library:

• Define the terms "genealogy, " "ancestor, " and "descendant."
• Name three types of genealogical records and explain how they help you chart your family tree. Obtain one genealogical document that supports your family tree and evaluate this information.
• Contact a genealogical repository.
• Explain the effects of computers and the internet on genealogy. Explain how photography and microfilm have influenced genealogy.
• Discuss what you have learned about your family through your genealogical research.