DECATUR — Caryn Adler, local genealogist and popular speaker, will present the Family History Mini Series program, “Sharing My Passion for Social Media” at the meeting of the Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society beginning at 6 p.m. on Monday, July 23, in the community room of Webster Memorial Library.

This program will certainly be of interest to those who are already using Facebook and other social media sites, but will also show family historians/genealogists how social media can be used to enhance and further their research.

Adler grew up in Niles and moved to Kalamazoo in 1978 to attend college.

In 1980, as a first anniversary gift to her brother and sister-in-law, she began creating a genealogy chart combining their two families.

The seed was planted and she has been researching her family’s genealogy ever since. To date, there are about 5,600 names in her database, with one line traced back to the year 1066.

In addition to documenting her own family’s history, she assists others in their research, including the husband of her cousin who wanted to find his birth family and succeeded.

In the spring of 2009, Caryn became interested in writing stories about several of her ancestors, and discovered that many other genealogists shared this desire, but were unsure how to proceed.

In response, she developed and launched three family history and memoir writing groups. Since then, the number of groups has ballooned to nine.

At the same time, she began speaking to genealogy groups in the southwest Michigan area, presenting such popular talks as “The Case of the Missing Ancestor,”

“A Picture (Postcard) is Worth a Thousand Words” and “This is Not Your Grandmother’s Genealogy.”

Her topics have increased over the years and she is also willing to develop others upon request.

The no-nonsense approach and attention to detail she presents combines to create an engaging and informative presentation that will satisfy both the beginning and experienced genealogist and memoir writer.

Adler’s main topic for the evening, “A Picture (Postcard) is Worth a Thousand Words,” will follow a short society business meeting and break.

Just like social media, postcards can prove to be another valuable resource for genealogists.

For more information call (269) 684-1353, the society’s website at www.vbrgs.org or email vbrgs@yahoo.com.