Most libraries with a genealogy section will have at least one available. This is an especially good way to start if you have an uncommon surname. The Spark's name was listed, I sent them basic information, they returned a one page line of ancestors, told me which newsletters applied to them. I got the one for the German ancestors. There is a lot of information in these books.
Many countries are available.
There are CDs available with phone numbers listed on them. This is for the eastern United States only, but I have seen few recently, so, I grabbed it. This can be a great help in finding people with certain names, especially unusual names.