Outreach Through Local History and Genealogy

• As I participated in the valuable workshop titled, Discover Your Roots: Genealogy and Local History, given by Paul Immel from the State Library of Ohio, I realized there are so many opportunities to reach patrons through local history and genealogy.  I had been struggling, literally and figuratively, with the amount of material in the Genealogy and Local History Room.  Because the task was so great, I continued to put the many projects that we have to tackle at the bottom of my to-do list.  Something mentioned in this workshop gave me the idea to form a committee to get these tasks done.  Our small reference department didn't have to do it alone; we could get help!   

• Like many libraries, the Holmes County District Public Library has a Genealogy and Local History Room filled with materials that need to be indexed and digitized for easy access.  Additionally, there are several fragile materials that must be preserved now if they are to be enjoyed in the future.  The reference staff and one volunteer oversee this room, but there is no staff member assigned to it; therefore, the projects are completed slowly.  In order to stay on track with current projects and complete new ones, the staff members must seek the help of others.

  The reference staff would like to elicit the help of a committee to assist with listing and prioritizing projects and helping with those projects, particularly digitization.  Members of this committee will consist of staff, retired staff, genealogists, Friends of the Library members, and any interested community members.  Our only definite requirement is that the members should be familiar with the materials in the room and have a genuine interest in preserving Holmes County heritage.  Currently, we are in the process of identifying individuals who might be interested in joining this committee. 

• Once the committee is chosen, the first task will be to list and prioritize tasks to be done in the room.  After the tasks are identified, we will coordinate efforts to complete and evaluate each one.  We anticipate that the digitization project will be the most costly and time consuming.  Since we use the past issues of our local paper exclusively for locating obituaries and researching local events, we would like to digitize and index this collection first.  The Holmes County Hub, formerly The Holmes County Farmer Hub, is stored on microfilm and archived from 1843 to 2007.  The priority for this project will be the older issues, because of the condition of the film.   Some are deteriorating, making it impossible to read and scan.  This is a large project; however, with the help of the Genealogy and Local History Committee, we can accomplish this and other projects to make the Holmes County genealogy and local history information easily accessible to patrons and staff.