As spring cleaning is underway, many in our community will be left to contemplate how to preserve newly rediscovered treasures. From April 25 to May 1, hundreds will celebrate Preservation Week, a time when libraries across the country and around the world will raise awareness of the need for preservation of collections of all kinds and provide resources to their communities on how to preserve family records, photos, scrapbooks, and more.
Preservation Week is your opportunity to inspire action and preserve your treasured collections and keepsakes. It’s also an opportunity to raise awareness of the role libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions play in providing preservation resources and collection stewardship.
Preservation Week began in 2010 when the American Libraries Association (ALA) and the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS), along with national partners, recognized a need to implement preservation programs and promote the care of at-risk cultural and information heritage collections, both in libraries, museums, and archives as well as those held by individuals, families, and community organizations.
The theme of Preservation Week is “Preserving Community Archives,” and The Claremont Colleges Library is offering a series of activities to support your preservation efforts. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to participate each day of the week or get a head start now!
- Monday, April 26: We’ll kick off Preservation Week by encouraging you to take action to preserve your precious keepsakes with these Saving Your Stuff tips.
- Tuesday, April 27: We’ll share a newly digitized photo album that is part of a Library-sponsored community archiving initiative called the “Claremont Barrios Digitization Project.” Learn about community archiving by attending a free Preservation Week webinar, Introduction to Community Archiving Workshop (CAW), on Wednesday, April 28, from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (Pacific).
- Wednesday, April 28: We’ll ask for contributions to the Library’s COVID-19 Chronicles project. Submit digital images, photographs, videos, writings, ephemera, and other materials that illustrate your experiences during this unprecedented time. Contribute to the COVID-19 Chronicles.
- Thursday, April 29: We’re celebrating community cookbooks! Take a look at one example from the Library’s Special Collections: the Pomona College Cookbook from 1987. Preserve your community cookbooks by reading about how to care, handle, and store your books.
- Friday, April 30: As we wrap up Preservation Week and head into Virtual Night Owls, we’re calling on the TCC community to contribute healthy, hearty, quick, and creative recipes to our Cooking with the Claremont Colleges Cookbook. Submit a recipe and learn more about preserving your recipes by watching the webinar Preserving Family Recipes, presented by Valerie J. Frey.
- Find more information, webinars, and activities on the Preservation Week website!
Want to know more about the Library’s Preservation Week activities? Contact Special Collections.