An estimated 200 to 300 people each year visit the Hamner Genealogy Room at the Briggs Lawrence Library’s main branch.

Those visitors are likely to find their family search a little easier, thanks to a donation from the Liebert Corporation.

Late last week, Liebert donated a microfiche reader and enlarger to the library for use in its genealogy room

&uot;Any equipment that we can get that will enable patrons to access records will be a tremendous benefit,&uot; library director Joe Jenkins said. &uot;The Hamner room is used extensively. We had one years ago but it became obsolete. It will be much used and much appreciated.&uot;

The equipment will allow people to read documents that have been saved on microfiche. Many old records are stored in this way as both a space-saving and document-preserving measure.

The new equipment will also allow patrons to print information directly from the microfiche.

Jenkins said the equipment should be ready for use within a week.