Community digitization project begins at library

The Ritzville Public Library is kicking off a community digitization project on April 28, which coincides with National Preservation Week.

The goal of National Preservation Week is for libraries and other institutions to connect to the local community through events, activities and resources to highlight what individuals and institutions can do to preserve collections. This year, Preservation Week runs from April 27 to May 3.

Library director Kylie Fullmer said community members from the surrounding areas, not solely Ritzville, are encouraged to bring in family photos, memorabilia and documents that showcase the early days of the area. Any memento that commemorates a family, notable individuals, early town scenes, early farming scenes, cultural events, major events and natural catastrophes are all themes and ideas for potential historic items to preserve.

The idea is to be able to collect, digitalize and preserve the history and uniqueness of the area.

Participants can drop off the items at the library, or can contact the library staff about having the items picked up if the participant is unable to travel to the library. After receiving the items, the library staff selects which ones to scan and then returns the original items as soon as possible. Fullmer said the staff hopes to have the items returned within one to two weeks, but it is dependent on the amount of items the library receives.

When the items are returned to the owner, they will also receive a free disc of the scanned items in a jpeg format. The disc serves as a backup, preservation copy for the owner, as well as a thank you from the library staff for their contribution.

There is not a limit on how many items an individual can bring in at once, though Fullmer advised they are asking for people to bring in high quality, original items and not photocopies.

The library staff members will conduct short interviews with the participants to learn important contextual information, such as names, dates and why the photo was taken.

All of the scanned images at the library are sent to the State Library, where they are made accessible on the Washington Rural Heritage page for Ritzville under the Adams County Community Archive collection. The link for the website is http://wrh.statelib.lib.wa.us/cdm/landingpage/collection/ritzville.

The participants retain full ownership of the item and receive all credit on the website.

Any individual interested in participating is asked to contact the library at 659-1222, or in person at 302 West Main Avenue in Ritzville.