If you're looking for Hernando County obituaries

The library owns more than 100 reels of old Brooksville newspapers, ranging from 1923 editions of the Southern Argus to the final edition of the Brooksville Sun Journal, which ceased publication on June 17^th, 1992. The coverage for 1923 to 1933 is somewhat spotty, due to missing issues and some of the original paper being mutilated.

Unfortunately, our machine (which was donated) broke down frequently, and the cost of repairs was more than the budget could accommodate. Our efforts to find grant money to digitize the film fell short.

So what are your options?

The librarian at the Main branch can search for the obit and deliver it to you via email, snail mail, or fax. There’s no fee, and you don’t need to be a resident of Hernando County.

 If you’re a do- it -yourself-er, and you’re a library card holder, you can check out up to 4 reels at a time from the Main Library on Howell Avenue in Brooksville, and keep them for a week. You can renew if no one is waiting for them, and we’ll need to make a copy of your photo ID.

To view them, you have several options:

The Russell Street Train Depot museum, owned and operated by the Brooksville Heritage Museum, has a microfilm viewer for use by the public. There’s no printing available, however. If you don’t want to transcribe the obit, bring a digital camera with you and photograph it. The depot is located at 70 Russell St, just off South Main Street, and its open Tuesday through Friday, from 12-3, and most, but not all, Saturdays at the same time. Call 352- 799-1729 on Saturday, before you come. If you don’t know the exact newspaper and edition you’re looking for, the depot also has index of obituaries from the local papers going back to the 1920’s. (Also available are Brooksville city directories going back to 1959, and the New York Times on microfilm, from the 1850’s to the 1990’s). 

The Church of Latter Day Saints Family History Center, at 21043 Yontz Road in Brooksville, has machines for viewing and printing. The hours fluctuate, so call 352-796-7403, or email them at fl_brooksville@ldsmail.net.

The PHCC campus libraries do not have microfilm viewers, but if you don’t mind taking a ride, St. Leo University, at 33701 SR 52 in Dade City, does.  They’re open 8 am to 2 am, Sunday through Thursday, and Friday and Saturday, 8 am to 7 pm. Call 352-588-8258 if you have questions.

 As for public libraries, the Homosassa branch of the Citrus County Library, at 4100 S Grandmarch Ave, has a new viewer/printer.  They’re open Monday through Thursday, 10 – 7, and Fri and Sat 10 -5. Their number is 352-628-5626

Finally, if you have a few thousand dollars burning a hole in your pocket and an overdeveloped sense of civic duty, I saw a very nice used machine on ebay…..