Until recently, Butler County residents with library cards could find a wealth of information about their ancestors in U.S. Census and other records free through a database.

But the Butler County Federated Library System has decided not to renew its subscription with the genealogical database HeritageQuest because of the library's money woes from state budget cuts.

Subscriptions for the other two databases offered by the system also will not be renewed, saving the BCFLS a total of about $23,000 a year, the system's administrator, Sheila Brown said.

Facts on File, the most expensive at $14,052 a year, will expire in mid-June. Learn-a-Test, at $4,495 a year, will expire June 30. Heritage Quest, at $4,410 a year, expired in April.

"I have gotten dozens of calls from people trying to figure out why they can't access HeritageQuest," said Luanne Eisler, genealogist for the Butler Public Library.

"It was something I probably used five or six times a day," she said. "The real beauty of this is the BCFLS invested in HeritageQuest so all residents with a Butler County library card could access it from their home computers."

"For genealogists, other than family information, the single most valuable resource to a genealogist is the census," Eisler said.

Libraries across the state have been cutting costs since the state decreased library funding from $75 million last year to $47.4 million this year, a 36.8 percent cut."Countywide, we lost $258,563.78," Brown said. "We received $508,485.25 in state aid, down from $767,049.03 last year."Libraries have been cutting hours, laying off staff and reducing services, trying to cope with the loss of income.At the end of March, the BCFLS board of directors tried ending bookmobile service to save money, but restored it by mid-April after a public outcry and scolding from Butler County Commissioner Glenn Anderson. The bookmobile is the only library service in the northern part of the county.Now, people interested in genealogy are upset with the loss of HeritageQuest and its wealth of census and other information.The first census was in 1790, and since then has been taken every 10 years.However, only statistical data is released soon after a census is taken. For privacy, personal information is not released until 72 years later. So the latest personal information available is 1930, released in 2002, Eisler said.The library system is trying to raise funds to have HeritageQuest restored, and has received pledges of $590 so far, Brown said.The money won't be collected unless pledges total $4,410 needed to restore the service, she said.The most valuable service HeritageQuest offers is census data, dating back to 1790, Eisler said. Names can be searched, and if they turn up, the records can be viewed on the computer screen and printed. Microfilm, microfiche, and compact discs with copies of the original documents are also available for sale.But now county residents would have to pay for individual memberships to access the data. However, HeritageQuest and its parent company, ProQuest, are no longer offering individual memberships, said Jerry Millar, ProQuest sales manager."Libraries can subscribe through ProQuest," he said.Individuals can obtain the census and other data through Genealogy.com, but have to pay. Memberships range from $69 to $199 a year, according to the web site. Census data is included with the most expensive membership, but would cost an additional $79 with the basic membership.Each census contains different information, Eisler said."For example, the 1790 census lists only the name of the head of household," she said. "It enumerated slaves and women. It did not name them." It also listed children by age group.Until 1850, the only names available are the head of household."In 1850, there was a dramatic change," Eisler said. "This was the first census that included the name of every person living in the household. It included their age, occupation, net worth and (children's) birthplace."The 1880 census was the first to include the parent's birthplace."This census was also the first to have the relationships of people in the household," she said, such as son-in-law or mother in-law."Suddenly, you have an idea of the wife's maiden name," Eisler said.In 1900, the census included the year of immigration. It also showed the number of years married, number of children born and the number of children still alive, she said.Eisler said she discovered a case in the 1910 census where a Butler Township family had 12 children, but only three alive."You have to wonder what happened to those nine children," she said.It remains a mystery, she said.The mother was Anna Pudis, a Hungarian who spoke Slovak, she said."The 1910 census was the first to include the mother's tongue," Eisler said.This could give evidence of heritage, particularly in a country that changes, such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, she said."So you can have someone come from Hungary who speaks German, Yiddish, Slovak, Czech and Magyar (the classical name for Hungarian)," Eisler said.The 1930 census was taken after the stock market crash of 1929, and reflects the economic status of families, she said."It asked if a person was at work on a particular date," she said. "It recorded if a person rented or owned their property."It also recorded if the family owned a radio set, a reflection of their economic status," Eisler said.The 2000 census asked detailed questions such as the mode of transportation used to get to work, and the number of bathrooms in a home."So in 2072," when the 2000 census is released, "our descendents will be looking at how we lived."Eisler said the Butler Public Library has the Butler censuses on microfilm from 1790 to 1930.The nearest libraries that have censuses for the whole state are in New Castle and the Carnegie Library in Oakland, Eisler said."I do not know of any library in Pennsylvania that has all of the censuses for every county in every state," she said. "That would be a huge collection. So when you have a database like HeritageQuest, it is a gold mine.""There isn't enough money for libraries," she said. "It's a disgrace."Rita Schoeffel of Jackson Township agrees."I just wish there was a way for the library to be funded," she said. "A small tax would benefit everybody."Schoeffel said she misses HeritageQuest."It was easy to use, you could type in a name and a state and it would search for you," she said. "I found a lady I have been looking for a long time. For a long time we had no idea where she had gone" after she left the state."A neighbor was looking for relatives in the South and had a lot of success."The nice thing, if you wanted to do some research at night it was available. And if you were a cardholder in Butler County, it didn't cost you a penny."