Northwest Regional Library System

Northwest Regional Library System
Headquarters: Bay County Public Library
898 West 11th Street Panama City, FL 32401 
Tel: (850)522-2100 Fax: (850) 522-2138

Bay County, Florida

YOU ARE INVITED TO PUBLISH
YOUR FAMILY HISTORY FOR FREE
IN VOLUME II OF
THE HERITAGE OF BAY COUNTY FLORIDA
A GRASSROOTS FAMILY HISTORIES COLLECTION

Your story or family story should be in this book.  If your family lived here in the past, you live in Bay County now, or have an interesting story about living here or how you or your family came here, we would like to publish it in this second volume. Simply write a story, find a picture (if possible) and bring them to the Bay County Public Library, 898 W. 11th Street to Ann, Becky or Anita.

We would like to include a special section to commemorate the Panama City Centennial.  If you know a person or a business who will be 100 or more years old in the year 2009, please contact us. If you have an interesting story from 100 or so years ago, please share it with us.

Would you like to share a special story about a prominent citizen that helped form our great county?

Another interesting feature will be couples who have celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary.  They can be your grandparents who are deceased, your parents or yourself.  Just so they are Bay County residents. Submit a picture with their names, birth dates, marriage date and death date if it applies.

Our first volume has been very popular.  Don't miss having your story published in the second volume.

Click here for Order Form

  Bay County Vol. II Pre-publication Order Form

Current Date for Submitting Stories is June 30th, 2009

Guidelines for Submitting Family Stories to Volume II

1.       Stories and photographs published in the first volume will not be reprinted in Volume II.

2.    Current residents, former residents and those with ancestors in the county may submit stories.

3.    Each household may submit 500 words and one photograph to be printed free of charge. Pioneer families are usually those in a county before 1890. One 1,000-word story per pioneer family line will be used along with two photographs. Other stories from that particular pioneer family are limited to 500 words per household. You may purchase words above the free amounts at 15 cents per word. Extra photographs are $15 each.

4.    Authors maintain the copyright to individual stories. We copyright the book of compiled stories. Authors are responsible for the content and accuracy of submissions. Neither the committee nor publisher are responsible for content and accuracy. Authors must place their names and addresses at the end of each story. Sources are limited to four. Sources can be written as: Marriage records, Census records, Bible, Family letters, etc. Do not list individual records. Those interested in information about the family can contact you through the address listed. Do not use footnotes.

5.   No one edits the family stories; however, submissions that harm or embarrass will not be used. Stories are typeset as submitted, unless the committee corrects obvious typographical errors. Stories must be in narrative format with no genealogical charts, lists or tabular material.

6.   Stories must be typed, or computer generated, and double-spaced on at least 20 lb. paper. Handwritten or stories in all CAPITAL letters will be returned.

7.   Computer generated photographs must be printed at a minimum of 720X720 dpi. They are not to be imbedded within the story but placed on a separate sheet. Scanned photographs should be on photo quality paper. Those on regular paper reproduce poorly.

8.   Photo captions are limited to 10 words and must be typed at the end of the story. We attempt to return all photographs with SASE but cannot be responsible for lost photographs. Identify your photographs by placing a mailing label on the back of each one. Please do not write on the back of a photo, as the ink can transfer to other photos and cause smudges and discoloration.

9.   We accept color and B&W photographs up to 8” X 10”. Do not size photographs to fit  the book. We will size them. We accept stories in the following genres for the topical section of the book. Each story is allowed one photograph. The word limits are listed in parentheses. You may pay for additional words and photographs as noted above, if you wish to have more material. Topical stories may be edited or not used as determined by the committee due to space limitations and/or duplicate/similar materials being submitted.

Genres include: Cities and Towns (750 words per story), Churches, Schools, Cemeteries, Businesses, Memories and Clubs (250 words per story). We will not print stories that were in the first volume.

Committee Officers:

Linda Kleback, Chairman
lkleback@hotmail.com
Becky Saunders
Topical Coordinator
Saunder@nwrls.lib.fl.us
Ann Robbins
Family Coordinator
apalacheeb@aol.com
Mona A. Lucas, Treasurer
alucas@nwrls.lib.fl.us