Press Room
Press Room
Library Relocates Historical Records -- August 2021
Sonoma County Library began the process on August 18, 2021, of relocating historical records (also known as the Sonoma County Archives) to a safe location in Santa Rosa, away from Los Guilicos, a county-owned facility threatened by wildfire in recent years.
“Rescuing these materials from the path of fire has been a priority for the library and I’m happy to see this milestone in process,” said Sonoma County Library Director Ann Hammond.
The library has managed the records – most of which are owned by the County of Sonoma – since the 1960s. The records are a mix of decades-old leather-bound, handwritten ledgers, relatively recent business records and a variety of other materials.
The library and the county share the cost of the relocation. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved a $140,000 allocation for lease costs for the first two years, and the Sonoma County Library Commission approved a $137,000 allocation for an inventory of the records, professional packaging and moving and reconfiguring the new space in Santa Rosa.
The relocation is not permanent, but gives the county and the library time to develop a long-term solution to store the records. “We’re grateful to the county for partnering with us to address this issue,” said Hammond. “We look forward to a productive conversation moving forward.”
The records will be inaccessible for approximately eight weeks, while they are packaged and moved to an interim storage facility and the new space is reconfigured. Once the work is complete and the materials are suitably shelved, researchers will be able to request materials again.
“Researchers and local historians will be able to request materials, which will be made available by appointment at our History & Genealogy Library in downtown Santa Rosa,” Hammond explained. “This process is how we’ve managed and protected these records successfully for years, and it will continue.”
Library Relocates Historical Records -- August 2021
Sonoma County Library began the process on August 18, 2021, of relocating historical records (also known as the Sonoma County Archives) to a safe location in Santa Rosa, away from Los Guilicos, a county-owned facility threatened by wildfire in recent years.
“Rescuing these materials from the path of fire has been a priority for the library and I’m happy to see this milestone in process,” said Sonoma County Library Director Ann Hammond.
The library has managed the records – most of which are owned by the County of Sonoma – since the 1960s. The records are a mix of decades-old leather-bound, handwritten ledgers, relatively recent business records and a variety of other materials.
The library and the county share the cost of the relocation. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved a $140,000 allocation for lease costs for the first two years, and the Sonoma County Library Commission approved a $137,000 allocation for an inventory of the records, professional packaging and moving and reconfiguring the new space in Santa Rosa.
The relocation is not permanent, but gives the county and the library time to develop a long-term solution to store the records. “We’re grateful to the county for partnering with us to address this issue,” said Hammond. “We look forward to a productive conversation moving forward.”
The records will be inaccessible for approximately eight weeks, while they are packaged and moved to an interim storage facility and the new space is reconfigured. Once the work is complete and the materials are suitably shelved, researchers will be able to request materials again.
“Researchers and local historians will be able to request materials, which will be made available by appointment at our History & Genealogy Library in downtown Santa Rosa,” Hammond explained. “This process is how we’ve managed and protected these records successfully for years, and it will continue.”
From the California Library Association's PRExcellence 2019-2020 Awardees pages:
The PRExcellence Awards honor the highest quality efforts of California libraries in promoting and communicating their message to their customers. Libraries are encouraged to submit their best PR materials!
There are four PRExcellence Award entry categories: Print, Electronic, Event or Campaign, and Wildcard. Up to three awards are given within each of these categories: first place winners at each of three library budget levels: under $5M, $5M-$10M, and $10M and above. A Best in Show award is also given. PRExcellence award recipients are honored and showcased during the annual CLA conference
BEST IN SHOWSonoma County Library |
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Sonoma Responds Awarded the California Library Association Conference 2020-2021 PRExcellence Best of Show (May 13, 2021)
From the California Library Association's PRExcellence 2019-2020 Awardees pages:
The PRExcellence Awards honor the highest quality efforts of California libraries in promoting and communicating their message to their customers. Libraries are encouraged to submit their best PR materials!
There are four PRExcellence Award entry categories: Print, Electronic, Event or Campaign, and Wildcard. Up to three awards are given within each of these categories: first place winners at each of three library budget levels: under $5M, $5M-$10M, and $10M and above. A Best in Show award is also given. PRExcellence award recipients are honored and showcased during the annual CLA conference
BEST IN SHOWSonoma County Library |
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From Quartex:
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Having faced California wildfires, floods, and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, Sonoma County Library chose Quartex to safeguard their numerous collections and bring them to a new audience, as well as to engage their community to build new collections that document the present and future. |
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View the case study, featuring Edy Dawson (Web Programmer Analyst) and Geoffrey Skinner (Cataloging and Metadata Supervising Librarian)
Case Study: Protecting Archives for the Future -- Quartex (April 2021)
From Quartex:
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Having faced California wildfires, floods, and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, Sonoma County Library chose Quartex to safeguard their numerous collections and bring them to a new audience, as well as to engage their community to build new collections that document the present and future. |
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View the case study, featuring Edy Dawson (Web Programmer Analyst) and Geoffrey Skinner (Cataloging and Metadata Supervising Librarian)
From Library Journal:
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Join us to hear the experiences of the team at Sonoma County Library and to discover the importance of digital access to their collections in light of recent challenges. The COVID pandemic, local wildfires, evacuations and extended library closures have made access to digital collections more important than ever in serving community. We discuss their priorities in terms of presentation of their digital assets, and outline how they used features available in Quartex to structure and build their website, help with search and discovery, and provide different routes into their collections. |
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View the Library Journal event page or watch the video on YouTube, featuring Edy Dawson (Web Programmer Analyst) and Geoffrey Skinner (Cataloging and Metadata Supervising Librarian); with Martin Drewe (Head of Customer Experience, Adam Matthew Digital)
Engaging Communities Through Digital Collections -- Library Journal Webcasts (November 3, 2020)
From Library Journal:
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Join us to hear the experiences of the team at Sonoma County Library and to discover the importance of digital access to their collections in light of recent challenges. The COVID pandemic, local wildfires, evacuations and extended library closures have made access to digital collections more important than ever in serving community. We discuss their priorities in terms of presentation of their digital assets, and outline how they used features available in Quartex to structure and build their website, help with search and discovery, and provide different routes into their collections. |
|
View the Library Journal event page or watch the video on YouTube, featuring Edy Dawson (Web Programmer Analyst) and Geoffrey Skinner (Cataloging and Metadata Supervising Librarian); with Martin Drewe (Head of Customer Experience, Adam Matthew Digital)