NEH funding helped the Stillwater Public Library establish its special collections and properly store its archival material. Image courtesy of the Stillwater Public Library.
For decades librarians at Stillwater Public Library have been collecting archival materials related to the history of Stillwater and Price County: books, scrapbooks, maps, photographs, and other documents. But until recently, those collections sat in out-of-the-way closets. With little climate control or proper storage, the items were at risk. And without dedicated storage space or the resources to organize the collections, the current librarians had little way to know what they were storing. With grants, the library has relocated these archives to a Special Collections Center and purchased shelving and preservation supplies. The library has been able to make these collections available to the public and, as a result, build stronger ties with the community.
“For us, it might as well have been a million dollars. For us, it was everything.”
–Stacy DeLano, Librarian, Stillwater Public Library
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With the workspace afforded by the NEH grant, the library was able to consolidate its materials and better understand their scope and significance. Librarians found records from the United Spanish War Veterans and its Women’s Auxiliary, including written memoirs of the war. Letters and archives from local families and clubs, agricultural census, city directories, and high school annuals also populate the archive. These collections are now used by local researchers and educators and library staff answering reference questions. The library is making collections more accessible, using a grant from the Oklahoma Records Advisory Board to digitize veterans’ documents.
The Stillwater Public Library is now able to digitize archival materials. Image courtesy of the Stillwater Public Library.
Developing the Special Collections Center has enabled partnerships with other organizations, ensuring that local communities have access to their own histories. According to Stacy Delano, who manages the project, “the library is situated right where a major part of the African American community developed. [The project] has given us a big chance to start more partnerships and conversations, and to get involved in that community. We want to show that their history is significant to Stillwater.” The library has also been able to return photographs that were taken of the Iowa Tribe between 1850 and 1930 to the tribe.
And now that it is able to properly care for the collections, the library is receiving more donations of material and is working with the Stillwater History Museum at the Sheerar and other organizations to build out its collections.
