The Burton Barr Phoenix Public Library is applying for a $50,000 grant for technology that will allow it to file historical documents into an online database.
The documents waiting to be digitized are currently housed in the Arizona Room in the downtown Phoenix library, a sector that tracks the settlement of the state through a myriad of historical documents and artifacts.
There are over 33,000 items to sort through, and Lee Franklin, community relations manager for the Phoenix library, said this huge assortment is what brings travelers to Arizona from all over the world.
“By doing this, we will be able to offer more people the opportunity to see what’s a part of the collection in the Arizona Room,” Franklin said. “People can experience different points of time in the greater Phoenix area without having to travel and come into a building.”
Franklin said this project is something that public libraries across the country are looking into in order to give their customers access to documents in diverse and more practical ways with the evolution of technology.
Two of the more prominent items that the library would like to make more accessible to customers are the McClintock files and the Susan Arreola postcard collection.
The McClintock files were a donation of many different artifacts from James McClintock, a member of the Rough Rider volunteer cavalry group with Teddy Roosevelt during the Spanish-American War, who documented his travels in Arizona using a variety of methods, including photos, maps, etc.
The postcard collection was preserved by a former city planner by the name of Susan Arreola. She saved over 2,500 Phoenix postcards dated between 1910 and 1960.
Carole Towles, the Central Library adult services senior manager, who has worked for the Phoenix Public Library since 1992, said that documents like these are the “cornerstones” of the Arizona Room and could potentially help with research, city planning and mapping the progress of Phoenix throughout the years.
“This is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Towles said. “It is a big undertaking…and now is when we’re getting a chance to do it.”
The $50,000 grant is funded by the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and the money would primarily be used for a content management system that would help categorize the Arizona Room artifacts.
The library’s ultimate goal is to make historical documents more available to the public because, before now, the files were only able to be accessed by a library employee due to specific preservation measures.
“We’re very excited to be able to make this happen because it’s not just the physical coming down to the building,” Towles said. “We have to be so careful with wearing gloves when accessing documents people request to see. We don’t want somebody sitting and eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, touching the historic files.”
The official decision on whether the library will be awarded the grant won’t come for another few months because the Land Use and Livability Subcommittee only voted to approve the application for further review on Thursday. The Phoenix City Council will have the final say in a formal city council meeting.
The library has the scanning equipment to kick off the project, but it will not be worth starting unless they have the money to buy the content management software. Franklin said now is the opportune time to begin working since the library is closed to all customers due to pandemic safety precautions.
“The timing right now lines up perfectly,” Franklin said. “We would be able to secure resources to do this and also meet some of the customers’ unique needs that are really present at this time.”
Contact the reporter at mphammel@asu.edu.
"The Flexible Journalist" -
Hammel is a fourth-year student studying broadcast journalism at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite college in an accelerated bachelor's-master's program. She is currently the Executive Editor for The Downtown Devil - a publication that covers hyperlocal news in the downtown Phoenix area - and is always looking for ways to improve her reporting and news writing skills—behind the camera and in front of it.
Hammel is also a certified yoga instructor at the Sun Devil Fitness Complex; she is flexible physically as well as in a way that allows her to be able to cover any news story that will educate the public, encourage civil discourse and impact communities.
