LOCAL SOURCES AND REPOSITORIES FOR MANATEE COUNTY GENEALOGICAL DATA
 
Manatee County Library This link provides general information on materials held by the Library. For location, hours of operation and more details. The genealogy section has a very good collection for material east of the Mississippi River. Search the  Library Catalog for specific interests. The Library's History & Genealogy Collections include Historic Digital Collections, and on-line Genealogy Databases like America's Genealogy Bank,  HeritageQuest, and NewsBank (Historic Newspapers) . 
Elizabeth Eaton Florida History Room features local history materials, unique objects, and rotating exhibits of local historical interest. Contents include Florida and local history books, maps, magazines and microfilm, with file cabinets holding a variety of historical information and the Historical Society’s archival negative collection.  Recently added are full-text of speeches, interviews and other miscellany collected by the Manatee Historical Society are now available online via the Historic Digital Collections; historical exhibits are being produced digitally as iBooks.
 
Historical Records Library - Located in the 1918 Carnegie Library, the Manatee County Historical Records Library, offers researchers governmental records dating back to 1855. Deed books, marriage licenses, probate files, court records, County Commission minute books, aerial maps, Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, historic maps, plat maps, tax cards, general directories, school yearbooks, school attendance records, voter registration books, and soldiers and sailors discharge books are some of the items that are available to researchers. In addition, the library houses the Herb Loomis Manatee County Postcard Collection and the Steve Belack Crosley collection.
Location: 1405 Fourth Avenue West, Bradenton, Florida 34205
Hours of Operation: Monday-Friday: 8:30 AM-4:30 PM
Phone Number: (941) 741-4070; Fax Number: (941) 708-5926
 
Family History Center -  Bradenton  These centers provide access to the world-famous Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Family History Centers are free and open to the public and staffed by knowledgeable volunteers. Each facility offers both novices and experienced family historians the tools and resources to learn about their ancestors. This center has access to databases through the Family History Center Portal page which gives free access to premium family history software and websites that generally charge for subscriptions. Use the Link for more details - location, contact information, local collections, etc..

Other Library Resources to Consider for Locating Local Genealogical Data:

OCLC WorldCat  WorldCat is the world's largest network of library content and services. WorldCat libraries are dedicated to providing access to their resources on the web, where most people start their search for information.

ArchiveGrid  ArchiveGrid is a collection of nearly two million archival material descriptions, including MARC records from WorldCat and finding aids harvested from the web.