Archived decisions

Outreach events for Special Collections

Some examples of events outside libraries which will bring publicity and involve local people.

However it needs to be understood that outreach should be underpinned by good upkeep and stock development of the collections , plus the development of knowledgeable staff . There needs to be direction given to information assistants so that work can be co ordinated and also so that an overview of the total development of each collection can be planned.

There is a growing interest in family history research (witness TV programmes, recent books ..) and in tracing the history of a family - inevitably where ancestors lived and where and how they made a living provides emotional insight for descendants. Local studies collections , with local museums if the area has one , are the places customers expect to find this information.

Some ideas ..

We should work with a local camera club or other volunteers to take photos of any rapidly changing areas of towns. This could be linked with a competition for teenagers (or any age ) for best photos and then a display in the library. These type of events are the ones that often generate publicity in a local paper

Larger libraries do already have collections of photos often dating back to Victorian times which prove very useful for today's researchers .

An empty shop unit could be hired ( there has been an abundance of them in Farnborough lately for example ) to hold a "photographic fortnight" to ask people to bring in interesting views of the town/area that we could ask to copy. This sort of event could also be held inside the library.

Lots of scope for oral history of a town - for example just 4 books written on history of Farnborough /Cove and the Cove books concentrate on the 1930s - 1950s only. Especially useful would be memories from people who have lived in a street for a long time and know the history of particular houses . This is asked for a lot when people research the history of their house .

Scope to put a virtual tour of local studies collection (s) on to library website .Also virtual tours of some important areas of towns -again working with local groups /schools/individuals .

Gateshead library I believe has a virtual tour of some central areas of that town - mixing historical detail with modern day.

A "history bus" once a year - or use of the Basingstoke dual purpose mobile library to call at large superstores or particular large scale local events/shows .

Scope for more digitising of material in all the special collections - either making things available on library website or producing CDs /DVDs for sale as is currently in process for the Aviation Collection