WSU Saves Scraps of Local High Schools’ Past
OGDEN, Utah — Deteriorating scrapbooks filled with memories of Ogden and Ben Lomond High Schools are being preserved and digitized by Weber State University’s Stewart Library Digital Collections.
For years, high school students filled scrapbooks with keepsakes to document their glory days. Tucked inside the pages are invitations to the White House, dance cards marked with names and newspaper clippings recounting historical events.
Stewart Library employees are now scanning and uploading online 40 years of scrapbooked memories. Ogden High will have scrapbook archives chronicling every year from 1908-39. Ben Lomond High School’s scrapbook archives will cover 1953-73.
Jamie Weeks, University Archives & Digital Collections associate curator, applied for and received a $51,000 grant from the Utah Library Services and Technology Act for the project.
“These scrapbooks contain a lot of history,” Weeks said. “Very few people would be able to see them unless they are digitized.”
Weeks and her staff scan every page and each individual item from the scrapbooks. By the time they are finished, both high schools will have the first 20 years of their scrapbooks preserved.
“Our goal is for viewers to see the scrapbook the way they would if they were looking at the actual book,” Weeks said. “It is a big project.”
The scrapbooks are currently shelved in each high school’s library, where they are exposed to heat and bright lights. These conditions have contributed to torn bindings and crumbling pages. In addition, many of the books were returned damaged or missing images after being borrowed. Sometimes, the books were never returned at all.
Weeks said she hopes to give back the scrapbooks in better condition than when she received them. She is building custom storage boxes that will immediately stop any further deterioration. The boxes will allow the books to lay flat and provide protection from heat and light.
Once all of the pages are digitized, Weeks will give the high schools DVDs of each scrapbook. Instead of continuing the risk of lending the scrapbooks, those who want to view them can check out a DVD.
“Once scrapbooks are digitized, they become available for researchers anywhere,” Weeks said. “We want to put as much information as possible out there, so it’s readily available.”
The scrapbooks will be uploaded for online viewing at WSU’s Stewart Library Digital Collections, the Mountain West Digital Library and the Digital Public Library of America beginning in June 2016.
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For high-resolution photos, please visit the following links:
Rachel Badali, Office of Marketing & Communications
801-626-7295 • rachelbadali@weber.edu- Contact:
Jamie Weeks, University Archives & Digital Collections associate curator
801-626-6486 • jweeks@weber.edu