My uncle works for a company that creates archives of newspapers and licenses them to libraries, universities, etc. They had purchased the rights to millions of newspapers dating back to the civil war, but lacked the manpower to convert all of the microfiche into digital copies, and in turn have those digital copies indexed. The Mormon Church provides a massive labor force of people who are now digitizing the content for free, simultaneously making those records available to the public who hold subscriptions to that particular service and making them available for free to members of the Mormon Church. Through deals like this and over hundreds of years the Church has built the most impressive family history library known to mankind.
As a Mormon, I was required to know and research family history growing up, and am encouraged frequently to do so now. I just finished beta testing an iOS app called "family search" that the Church is building, allowing anyone to add pictures, video, stories, etc. of their ancestors. In doing so you run into people you are related to who are doing the same work, and learn thing about your roots you never would have known. It's fascinating, though I'm by no means a family history buff.