The West Plains Public Library Genealogy Room, located inside the library, offers numerous resources for genealogical research and study. Includes information on — Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri.
Items on microfilm include: 1890 Union Veterans and Widows (for various Missouri counties) and 1890 Special Civil War Schedule Seven and Enumerations; Union Veterans and Widows of various Missouri Counties; West Plains Gazettes, 1944-1947; West Plains Journal Gazettes, 1945-1953; West Plains Daily Quills, 1907-present; and some older newspapers.
Books and publications on American genealogy, Howell County Post Offices, area histories, county histories, newsletters, journals, family histories, cemetery records, Ridgerunner and West Plains Gazette magazines, and Zizzer (West Plains High School) yearbooks are available.
A person can use the resources of the genealogy room without being a member of the library, with the exception of Heritage Quest, for which you have to have a current library card.