Have you ever wanted to figure out your family’s lineage but didn’t know where, or how, to start? If so, you may be in luck with the Sunderland Public Library’s upcoming Introduction to Genealogy series.

Beginning Sept. 10, the library is partnering with local professional genealogist Hillary Schau to give folks a crash course on discovering their roots with a series of classes relating how to undertake research and what resources are available to people.

A member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and a graduate of the Boston University Genealogical Research Certificate Program, Schau has been researching her family tree since the 1980s.

“It’s addictive and sometimes you’ll lose sleep because you’re hunting down something and you’ll lose track of time,” Schau said. “Each person that comes to this class is going to have something … and they build on that.”

Classes are geared toward beginners and will feature a little bit of discussion from Schau before she sets people loose on their research, where she will be available to help people get going and answer questions.

Class topics to be covered include: the history of the Census and what sorts of free resources are available; how to organize genealogy data; military and land records, as well as wills and probate records; and how DNA can be used for genealogical research.

Typical resources, beyond the Census, include historical newspaper archives, vital records (birth, marriage and death) and persona family histories from grandparents.

There are challenges, though. Newspapers might not have been available in every community, sometimes stories may be inaccurate, and folks may have fudged their ages for a variety of reasons, or, sometimes, someone just lived a quiet life.

“That’s why genealogy is so much fun, because every family has a unique set of puzzles,” Schau said.

What is the result of these hours of research? A deeper understanding of your family history and, if you’re fortunate, perhaps an amusing discovery.

“I have some fun stuff — that’s the best thing when you’re doing the research, you’re far away from the scandals and it’s entertaining,” Schau said, adding one distant relative was found dead in a hotel room with a man who was not her husband. “I love finding treasures like that.”

Library Director Katherine Umstot said research is at the heart of what libraries do, which makes these classes perfect for the community.

“People use the library a lot for research and we do have historical records relating to the town of Sunderland and western Mass,” Umstot said. “We’re really glad to provide a detailed, hands-on learning experience with a professional like that.”

The program was developed from an idea shared by Loran Diehl-Saito, the program director at the North Star Center for Self-Directed Learning. Diehl-Saito is an amateur genealogist herself and figured this might be an interesting topic to share with the students. The school has worked with the library over the past two years to host American Sign Language classes for the kids and the public.

“North Star is a valuable part of the Sunderland community, and so are their teens,” Umstot said. “It is fantastic to see the teens collaborating with our adult patrons to learn something new.”

Classes will begin at the Sunderland Public Library, 20 School St., on Sept. 10 and will run each Tuesday for six weeks. Advance registration is required and there are fewer than 20 seats in the class, as several positions are reserved for North Star students.

To sign up, visit bit.ly/4dgW47x or call the library at 413-665-2642.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.