Preserving Forsyth's Past (SNCA lightning round 2015)

The Grant

In 2009, Forsyth County Public Library and Wake Forest University were awarded a grant to help our community preserve local history by the State Library of North Carolina under the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The grant included preservation education for local organizations and the public, as well as the establishment of digitization centers throughout the county.

Four digitization centers were established in Forsyth County: Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University, the Central Library Branch; the Lewisville Branch Library; and at Walkertown Branch Library.

The Pilot Project

In the Pilot Project, we led a 2-day program which covered preservation

concepts, hands-on training and digitization. The first session covered the

basic tenets of preservation, covered hands-on training: tipping in loose pages,

heat set tissue repairs to torn pages, paperback book repairs and storage

(enclosures, envelopes, sleeves, boxes).

The second session covered digitization of photographs, video and audio.

Training Sessions

Each session included basic preservation theory and

practices, hands-on preservation training, basic

archival approaches to collections, and

demonstrating how to scan paper materials,

digitizing cassettes and video tapes.

Equipment

Four sites in Forsyth County received a computer,

flatbed scanner, slide scanner and DVD scanner to

use in a workstation after the training.

Outcomes

Each satellite location in Forsyth County has

continued to offer access to the equipment and

individual training.