A proposed reduction to the Kiama Family History Centre has ignited anger and disbelief in the community, with plans to reduce the 38-year-old service to just two hours a week described by volunteers and researchers as a “slap in the face” and “deceitful”.

Kiama Council said the changes were intended to integrate the stand-alone Family History Centre with its Local History Studies services to create a “more streamlined and accessible experience for the community.” 

Genealogist Carolyn Morrow, who was the co-ordinator at the centre for four years, said she was assured the facility would remain open, only to later be told her services were no longer required and that volunteer involvement would be drastically reduced.

“It’s been handled in a deceitful way,” Morrow told The Bugle. 

“Reducing a centre like this to two hours a week is ludicrous. For the volunteers, it’s been a slap in the face.

“People turned up religiously, week after week, for decades.

“This was not a financial decision. The centre ran at minimal cost and was largely volunteer‑based.

“Even at its peak, it would have cost less than $5000 a year to maintain essential subscriptions.

“It’s an extraordinary gold nugget of information - records that don’t exist anywhere else.

“People travelled from interstate and overseas to use this centre.

“This is not about my job. I’m ready to retire. This is about keeping the centre open for the volunteers and the community.”

Volunteers – some of whom have staffed the centre for decades – were notified by email of the changes, a move they described as deeply disrespectful. 

“This has given us a sense that all our work and dedication over the years hasn’t been valued,” one long-serving volunteer said. 

Another added: “Volunteering at the centre had given me purpose and passion after my husband died. It gave me a sense of place, a sense of belonging.”

Council confirmed the centre has been closed while local history collections are relocated, and from March it will operate on Thursdays from 10am–12pm, with library staff and volunteers available by appointment outside of that two-hour window.

In announcing the changes, Council thanked Morrow and the 20 volunteers for their contributions, emphasising that family history services would continue in an integrated form.

Kiama Council’s Director of Strategies and Communities, Ed Paterson, said the changes were being made to create a more streamlined and accessible experience for the community.

Paterson said dedicated Family History Centres were rare in local councils throughout NSW and the new approach would reduce the financial burden for ratepayers in the Kiama LGA.

“There’s certainly some strong feelings about the decision and I can understand that people are feeling upset about the whole situation,” he told The Bugle.

“Council is under a state-imposed Performance Improvement Order, so we have to ask ourselves whether a service we are offering is legally required to be provided and if that’s not the case, we have to ask should we provide it?

“We truly do value all the effort that volunteers have put in but we can’t continue to run it at a loss at the expense of the ratepayer.

“We are still going to provide the service but in a different way.”

Paterson added that historical material would not be thrown away despite what has been suggested on local social media groups.

The State Library undertook a Service Review of Kiama Counci's library services, which was reported to the April 2024 meeting, and is publicly available.

Volunteers say problems started long before the recent announcement. Essential equipment, like the centre’s printer, was removed. 

Large shelving units were installed in the middle of the room with little explanation, leaving staff and volunteers guessing. 

“Receiving the email made me feel literally sick,” a volunteer said. “So much of what I love to do at the centre during the week has been destroyed. For what reason?

“Our researchers transcribed old documents to be made available online, worked on local cemeteries, the history of pioneer homes, and collated information about our town - and that was just on a Wednesday.”

Established in 1989 beneath the Kiama Library with funding from a $1 million Bicentennial grant, the centre has been a fixture of the community ever since.

Founded under the leadership of Ray Thorburn, whose work earned national respect in genealogical circles, the centre helped trace living relatives of one of the Fairbridge Boys in the UK and contributed to a major medical genetic study. 

Originally known as the Australian Genealogical Education Centre, it was once open seven days a week and attracted visitors from across Australia. Thorburn remained at the centre until 2006 when he passed away.

During Morrow’s tenure as co-ordinator, the centre expanded outreach, handled commissioned research for interstate clients, and secured a $10,000 donation to preserve 662 invaluable microfiche or microfilm reels.

For decades, volunteers have been the backbone of the centre, providing one-on-one assistance, handling interstate and international enquiries, and undertaking long-term projects including war memorial research, cemetery records, and digitisation of historic material.

“I and others researched and recorded WWI records of over 170 soldiers and had yet to finish the remainder,” volunteer Jann Parkes said.

“When there is a fabulous family history centre, dedicated volunteers, a wealth of resources, and it’s not broken … why destroy it?”

A 2024 council-commissioned review by family history consultant Jan Richards focused on expansion and integration, including a Strategic Plan with actions to integrate the Local Studies Collection and the Family History Centre and also to recruit and train volunteers to assist in the enrichment of local and family history collections.

The Strategic Plan did not explicitly encourage Council to increase volunteers at the Family History Centre but to attract more volunteers to help deliver all library programs and activities.

Online reaction has been swift, with many taking to social media to describe the move as “dreadful” and “deeply disappointing”.