Through time the FSL has changed locations within Salt Lake City as follows: The current building, just west of Temple Square was opened on October 23, 1985, and cost $8.2 million.

One hour and 45 minutes[7] after the shooting began, Salt Lake police shot and fatally wounded Babarin in an exchange of gunfire.

Babarin's family indicated he had a history of schizophrenia, a claim not corroborated by the Valley Community Mental Health Clinic.

Its collections include over 1.3 million rolls of microfilmed records onsite and access the total collection of more than 2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical records; 190,000 microfiche; 340,000 books, serials, and other formats; 125,000 periodicals; 3,725 electronic resources including subscriptions to the major genealogical websites.

Professional genealogists and volunteers offer assistance in about 30 languages, which includes reading and translating genealogically relevant documents.