A: Amber; LP: Lydia Proctor; MG: Muriel Grant; FC: Faye Carter & JF: Julia Franklin 

A: So ladies, tell us about the society library:

LP: Well, we are open two weekdays, three Saturday’s and one Sunday a month from 10-2 during the week and 3-7 on the other two days. Right now that’s Tuesday and Thursday. We are also open the hour before our general meetings which is the third Wednesday of the month.

MG: We hold both our board and general meetings in the building too.

A: Tell us a little about the library building. It also has an interesting history I hear:

LP: The library was an old house from the turn of the 20^th century - about 1920 - and was being prepared for demolition. It was originally three bedrooms and one bath, with a small kitchen and a living room dining room combo. It’s just under 1,200 square feet. We swooped in and made an offer…

MG: But that was after we asked the society board to meet with the city for a permanent location.

LP: That’s true. Redondo Beach our neighbor city did sort of the same thing with their historical society. It was an old house and they bought it and moved it to one of the parks. So we thought, why not?

MG: The city had a lot in the downtown Rancho Camino area that was up for sale. The city bought the lot for us and then helped us move the house.

LP: We pay a small rent on the property and pay all the utilities and maintenance on the house. We’ve remodeled most of it, converting a child’s room and another bedroom to storage and a classroom. The kitchen is still fully functional with an updated refrigerator and stove.

We have two microfilm machines, one copy machine, about 2,000 books and about 100+ periodical titles. We also have a great historical atlas collection. On top of it all, we have genealogy classes and we’ve also hosted a small seminar in the last year.

A: How many volunteers do you have?

MG: Currently we have twenty, but they are all part-time and work different days and shifts. I keep track of them and fill in when necessary. Either Lydia or I are here when the volunteers are here.

A: There’s a cat too isn’t there?

LP: Yep. Our cat Scooter was a stray and we adopted it. It has a kitty door and we make sure the self-feeder is full with food and water to cover when the building is empty. Since that’s only three day’s a week, she’s usually safe.

MG: We even have a cat alert posted at the door coming in to warn patrons with allergies. She never hangs in the main room though; she’s usually in the back.

LP: Or if she does, it’s when Muriel or I are alone in the building. She’s shy of strangers.

A: You (Directed at Lydia) have had some unusual instances with genealogy and mysteries. Can you tell the readers how you got started with this unusual past time?

LP: Well, Julia Franklin…

MG: who wasn’t either a member or a volunteer at the time…

LP: Came into the library on a Saturday with her genealogy. She had been directed here by the historical society at the other end of town…with a problem. Her mother had told her on her death bed, that her grandfather had murdered her grandmother…that was according to family tradition. But Julia’s mother had issues with the truth of it and was unable to solve the problem herself, so she asked Julia to try and do it.

So it was more than just working on someone’s genealogy, it was solving a mystery at the same time, and from what we could tell, we narrowed it down pretty well. I wrote about it for the California Society Journal and they titled it “An Old Fashioned Murder” which both Muriel and I felt was appropriate.

MG: She did a good job!

LP: But I didn’t do it alone, I had my friends for a sounding board: Muriel, Julia and my best friend from high school, Faye Carter.

MG: She jokes and calls us the Nancy Drew Crew – not sure why since this one here used to read the Hardy Boys growing up.

LP: Hey it just sounded good. And I don’t use it all the time!

The front door opened at that point and in walked the two Lydia had just referred to.

A: How cool. Faye and Julia, question for you…how do you like working on these mysteries with Lydia?

FC: It’s great. I’m a cop and I find it gives me a different perspective, plus it makes me think outside the box too. I’m shooting for detective in a couple years and I think the puzzle solving aspect is helping me. Being a street officer limits you to taking down the criminal, but you don't always get to find out why something went down – like a robbery, or a murder even. It’s great.

JF: I got a taste of it with my grand-father’s case and it was so enlightening. You have to be careful though not to take it too seriously, especially when it’s your own family. I got really protective of my ancestors and their decision making. How someone thought a hundred years ago and their reasons for reacting to someting is going to be much different than what we might do now.

MG: Time changes everything…

LP: That it does.

A: I hear Lydia that you just finished working another mystery; something that seemed simple and became way more?

LP: Oh my gosh, that’s an understatement. The whole thing pulled me down emotionally. I won’t go into much detail because I don’t like dwelling on things, but the woman I did it for, well she sort of used me. She didn’t get what she wanted, but she tried really hard.

MG: The woman was manipulative, cruel almost.

FC: Don’t even get me started on her...

A: Was it a challenge though?

LP: Challenge yes, stressful yes, rewarding…for some of those involved…yes.

A: What’s your next project?

MG: None right now, other than weeding the collection – now that we can without a problem – oh…and we’re going to a genealogy conference in Virginia in just a week or two, and we’re all so excited.

A: You’re all going?:

LP: Yep. It should be fun. It’s the first big one for Julia, Muriel and Faye. We’ve all done and even hosted some small local events – okay some not so small, like Southern California Genealogical Society’s annual Jamboree – but nothing on the scale of a national event. People literally come from all over the United States to attend lectures. It’s something every genealogist needs to do at least once.

A: Well good luck on your trip and let’s hope you have a calm and quiet time for a while. No more murder mysteries!

ALL: You said it!