Preserving Local History on Digitization Day at the Franklin Township Library

In partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Somerset County Library System will be collecting, cataloging, and preserving the collective memories of Somerset County residents.

Utilizing a suite of digitization equipment including high resolution scanners, a light box, a digital single-lens reflex camera, and the expertise of Somerset County Library System’s archival and historical librarians, the Library will be providing residents the opportunity to both preserve and learn about their own history and that of their neighbors.

Somerset County residents should bring no more than 5 items, including historical letters or documents, artwork, family heirlooms including recipes, jewelry, textiles, antique toys or other artifacts.

If a resident has a more robust collection of historical items that they wish to digitize, that patron should make a one-on-one appointment with the Somerset County Library System by emailing CommonHeritage@sclibnj.org. If a patron wishes to share an oral history of a historic and/or life event, short, recorded interviews can be arranged.

Somerset County Library System will make these collective memories available for research and use for future generations by contributing digitized items to Rutgers University’s New Jersey Digital Highway, by making them available in our library’s online catalog, and by submitting them to the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA).

SCLSNJ’s Common Heritage initiative has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in these Library programs do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.