Skylar C's Senior Project Blog

Project Title: How Libraries Help Us Preserve Our Past and Impact Our Future BASIS Advisor: Matthew Corradi Internship Location: Prescott Public Library Onsite Mentor: Sarah Willadsen

Project Abstract

When someone hears the word library, they undoubtedly imagine shelves heaped with books and scratched up DVDs available to borrow. But, libraries also play a lesser known role in people’s communities other than lending out materials: they are able to collect the local history of their town or city and preserve it through different ways. Digitizing old records and collecting documents and objects are ways these institutions are able to do this, and librarians are then able to display the memorabilia for the public to see. This allows the patrons to be more aware of their cultural heritage and where they came from, provides invaluable tools for researchers to reference and use in their studies, and ensures future generations will have access to direct links to their past. The town where I go to high school, Prescott, has an interesting history that is still very apparent and celebrated. Now, as the Prescott Public Library arrives at its fiftieth anniversary, the librarians are planning to document Prescott’s rich history and its library by recording the collected documents they have for the celebration and another future project. There are many records from general Prescott history, like pamphlets from old museums or news, and binders full of materials about the library’s history. I helped them with the library project by scanning the many pages containing newspaper clippings and other types of documents about the history of the library for the librarians to use for the fiftieth celebration. Outside of that project, I also worked a little on their general Prescott history files and recorded the details of every document I digitized. This process helped me learn more about the ways libraries preserve history and the importance of remembering our past.